


No Where to Run

by Scarlet_Absol_13



Category: Gundam 00
Genre: Full series spoilers ahead, Gen, Heavy Angst, Second season AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-07-17 18:05:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16100951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Absol_13/pseuds/Scarlet_Absol_13
Summary: After Operation Fallen Angels, Tieria Erde is recovered by Ribbons Almark and is forced to endure four years of torture. Will he be able to escape from Ribbons' clutches and if he does, will Celestial Being welcome him back with open arms? This will follow the second season of Gundam 00 but will be AU.





	1. Living in a Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story WAY back in 2009 and originally posted it on another popular fanfiction website. I've given the original story a significant editing, changed a few things around, and just cleaned it up a bit. There's a good deal of psychological trauma in the first couple of chapters that I wasn't sure how to tag.

_He slowly opened his eyes and found that he was lying in a bed in what looked like a medical room._

" _Ah you're finally awake," A male voice that he had never heard before said_

_He moved his head as much as he could and saw the fuzzy outline of a teenaged boy with light green hair and purple eyes, "Who are you…?" he whispered. With just that question he felt the meager energy he had weaken. Why was he so weak?_

" _My name is Ribbons Alamark," He said with a smile, "I'm glad you're finally awake. You were in really bad shape when I found you and it's taken you nearly four months to recover from your injuries." He felt a hand on his forehead as the adolescent continued to speak, "The enemy seemed to have a pretty tight hold on you and I hoping to release you from that hold."_

" _The enemy…?" He asked weakly, "Who…?"_

" _Celestial Being," Ribbons said, "I've been watching you for a long time now and it seems that you are extremely loyal to them. I am hoping that you will be as loyal to me as you were to them."_

" _What…!" He asked as he attempted to sit up but soon found that his body wasn't ready to move in such a way and he fell back panting for breath._

" _Take it easy," The boy said, "You still haven't fully recovered yet. You look upset, what's wrong? You should be happy, you don't have to deal with those humans anymore."_

" _Why…?" He said as tears came to his eyes, "Why…?"_

" _Because you're with your own kind now," The boy said, "Take it easy and rest, I'll explain things more when you're feeling better, Tieria Erde."_

* * *

 

Tieria Erde woke drenched in a cold sweat and panting heavily. He had been having that same dream for nearly five years now and he wished that it was only just a dream. He opened his eyes and almost expected that he was on the Ptolemaios but he knew that wouldn’t be the case. As usual once he put his glasses on, the room that came into focus was the small closet of a room that Ribbons had given him a while back. He rested his arm across his forehead and sighed. He hated it here, all he was allowed to have was a simple cot because he wasn't trusted with anything else.

For the past five years he had been forced to fight against small rebellions in a mobile suit he wasn't accustomed to. He missed his Gundam, he missed the freedom he had on the Ptolemaios and he even missed his old comrades. He sighed as he thought of his old comrades, Celestial Being had recently made a comeback. He had been there when Setsuna F. Seiei showed up at Proud with a modified version of the Exia.

After seeing Exia the next, and last thing, he remembered was lying in his bed while Ribbons, and two of his other comrades harassed him. He had no idea just how long it had been since then, but he was guessing that it had been around a week. He knew that there was going to be some sort of mission today and he hoped that he wouldn't have to fight, he wasn't quite feeling well. At that moment he heard his door open and he pretended to be asleep.

"Tieria?" It was Ribbons. Tieria opened his eyes and slowly sat up. It was no use trying to fool Ribbons, he probably used Veda to see if he was awake or not. "You're awake," he said with a fake smile, "Veda informed me that your temperature is finally back down to normal." He sat down on the edge of the bed, "I'm glad. I was really worried when your temperature suddenly spiked then wouldn't come back down."

"I've been sick?" Tieria asked.

"You've been very sick," Ribbons said, "But it seems as though you're finally healthy and ready for combat again. I have a very special mission for you today."

Tieria sighed he knew he would be fighting Celestial Being today, "I'm going to be fighting _them_ aren't I?" He asked softly.

"What's wrong?" Ribbons asked, "You should be grateful that I was able to get you away from them."

"Why should I be grateful?" Tieria spat, "You've only tortured me for the last four years."

"Four years ago you were always telling Veda how you couldn't stand being around the other members of Celestial Being." Ribbons said, "I've made your wish come true. I got you away from the other members of Celestial Being."

"I _never_ wished for this." Tieria said darkly.

"As I was saying," Ribbons said, "Yes, you will be fighting Celestial Being today. Veda feels as though you are well enough, although it seems that she did not want me to deactivate the self-destruct mechanism. Should you try to activate it, the consequences will be severe. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," Tieria murmured.

"Good," Ribbons said, "It would greatly trouble me if something was to happen so early on in our plan." He stood up and walked towards the door, "If be sending someone in to make sure you eat something."

Ribbons left and Tieria let himself fall back against the cot again. He didn't want to fight against Celestial Being. The mere thought of fighting against his old comrades was making his already upset stomach feel even worse. He slung his arm across his stomach and shut his eyes as the door opened.

If he was lucky Ribbons would have sent Regene Regetta, Anew Returner or Destiny Wish to bring him lunch today. He didn't have much of an appetite anymore. He used to be able to eat most of the food that was given to him but recently the mere thought of food made him feel like he was going to be sick. Regene, Destiny and Anew wouldn't force him to eat like the others would. Revive Revival, Bring Stabity and Devine Nova would make him eat about half of what was given to him. Afterwards he would then spend the rest of the day trying to sleep off a terrible stomachache and extreme nausea.

 If it was Hilling Care or Miracle Enfants, he would be in trouble. The two girls were the most sadistic and heartless of the group. They didn't seem to care about anyone but themselves. There had only been two times when one of them had brought him lunch and both times he had gotten so sick he ended up in a medical capsule for severe dehydration. From what Regene had told him Ribbons had given both girls harsh lectures afterwards. Apparently both times Ribbons had had to make major changes to the mission plans and he highly doubted that Ribbons would send either of them.

"Tieria?" Tieria sighed in relief, it was Destiny Wish. He opened his eyes and opened his eyes, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No," Tieria said, "I was already awake."

"That's good," Destiny said, "You're looking much better today." The blue haired girl smiled, placed the tray she was holding on the table and placed her hand on Tieria's forehead, "It seems your fever finally broke. I'm so glad you're alright. After encountered that Gundam at Proud you started looking really pale. Then two days later you spiked an extremely high fever. I was really worried about you, Tieria. Your temperature stayed well above forty for four days."

"Ribbons told me that I had been sick," Tieria said.

"What else did he say?" Destiny asked.

"He just said that he was worried about me," Tieria responded.

"That lying bastard," Destiny spat, "He wasn't worried about you at all. In fact he wouldn't allow us to give you anything for your fever. Gene, Anew, and I would take turns taking care of you. Then finally Anew couldn't stand to watch you suffer anymore so she administered a fever reducer."

"Did she get caught?" Tieria asked.

"Yes she did," Destiny said, "She was deployed to some kind of base at Langrange three as a sleeper agent." She then sighed, "Ribbons seemed to like the fact that all you could do was sleep while you were sick."

Tieria sighed, "She was sent with _them_ …" He murmured.

"Tieria," Destiny asked, "Who do you mean by them?"

"Celestial Being," Tieria replied softly, "They have a base at Langrange three."

Destiny sighed and put her hand on Tieria's shoulder, "I'm sorry Tieria," She said, "I know how you get about that."

"It's alright," Tieria muttered.

"No, it's not," Destiny said, "I can tell by the look on your face. You're in pain. You shouldn't be here, you don't belong here." Tieria sighed and shut his eyes, "I wish there was something I could do to get you out of here."

"Don't do that," Tieria said, "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me like Anew did."

"You had nothing to do with the trouble Anew got in," Destiny said, "You didn't tell her to administer the fever reducer, she did it of her own free will."

"But it was because I was sick," Tieria said softly.

"Don't worry about it so much," Destiny said, "You'll feel sick again." She then grabbed the tray off the table, "Ribbons agreed to give you a lighter meal today, try to eat as much as you can."

"No, he's going to eat all of it," Ribbons said as he walked into the room, "I know what you, Regene, and Anew have been doing. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice that you were finishing his meals for him?"

"But sir, if he's forced to eat all of this, he'll get sick again," Destiny explained, "We'll have to put another mission on hold."

"I appreciate your concern," Ribbons said in a tone of voice that made both Tieria and Destiny feel very uneasy, "However, I don't appreciate your back talking!" he yelled as he slapped Destiny in the face.

"Don't hit her!" Tieria exclaimed as he stood up.

"You're in no position to stick up for her, Tieria Erde!" Ribbons yelled as he slapped Tieria in the face as well.

Tieria winced as the force from the slap knocked him down on to his bed. The slap wasn't hard, however in his weakened state, he didn't have the strength to prevent himself from falling.

"Tieria!" Destiny cried as Tieria just continued to lie motionless on his bed.

"I was going to have Miracle sortie with him today," Ribbons said, "But it seems as though you two have a thing for each other. I'll have you two sortie together so if one of you dies the other can watch in agony." Then he walked from the room, "You sortie in four hours."

"That bastard," Destiny growled as she subconsciously rubbed the spot on her face where she had been hit, "One day I'd like to see him die." She sat down on the edge of the bed, "Tieria, are you alright?"

"I don't want to fight," He muttered without sitting up, "Not against them."

"I know you don't want to fight," Destiny said as she rubbed his back, "But you don't have a choice, what Ribbons says goes. Are you hungry at all?"

Tieria shook his head. His stomach was sick and just the thought of food was making him feel worse, "I don't think I can hold anything down." He said softly.

Destiny sighed, "Alright," She said, "I'm not going to force you to eat. Try to get bit more sleep. I'll wake you before it's time to sortie. But please, don't do anything stupid later, I don't want anything to happen to you."

* * *

 

Ribbons walked out into the lounge area where Hilling, Miracle, Revive and Regene were sitting either reading or chatting.

"Miracle you can relax," Ribbons said, "I'm having Destiny sortie with Tieria."

"Ah so you're trying to kill two defects with one mission, huh?" Miracle asked, "I Like it."

"You do realize that Tieria's probably going to try and self-destruct his mobile suit again," Hilling said, "He's done that in the last…what was it, five missions?"

"I know," Ribbons said smugly, "That's why I haven't deactivated that yet. The sooner he dies the better it is for us." He paused, "However, Veda keeps saving him. It's almost as if she doesn't want him to die."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Ribbons," Hilling said, "I'm sure Veda will get tired of saving Tieria's pathetic life eventually."

"But if Veda doesn't want Tieria to die then chances are, she's not going to let him die," Regene said.

"Shut up Regene," Miracle said, "You just don't want Tieria to die because he's your twin. Hell, I wouldn’t give a fuck if Destiny doesn't come back because Tieria went and did something stupid."

"That’s horrible," Regene said, "There aren't many of us to carry out Aeolia Schenberg's plan, we need all of the innovators."

"That is true," Hilling said, "But Tieria Erde is only holding us back. He's becoming more of an obstacle than Celestial Being is."

"Well he was a member of Celestial Being," Revive said, "Perhaps that has something to do with it."

"Who knows," Miracle said, "But it's like Ribbons said, the sooner we get rid of him the better."

Regene sighed and stood up, "Please excuse me," He said.

"Where are you going?" Ribbons asked.

"Just for a walk," Regene responded.

"Go spend some time with your twin!" Miracle called as the purple haired boy walked from the room, "'Cuz he's probably gonna die in about four hours!"

"Now, now Miracle," Hilling said in a mock tone, "Was that really necessary?"

"Sure it was," Miracle answered, "Because it's the truth!"

Revive sighed as the two girls continued mocking Regene, Destiny and Tieria. He disliked talking about his comrades behind their backs regardless of how they acted.

"Aw what's wrong Revive?" Hilling asked, "Do you care for the defects as well?"

"I don't care for talking about my teammates behind their backs." He said.

"Aw come on," Miracle said, "Chances are they're going to be dead by this evening, join us."

"Even so," Revive said, "They are still our subordinates, alive, captured or dead.”

"You're no fun," Hilling said, "Oh well it's your choice. We'll just keep having fun without you."

Revive sighed, "I'm going to head to my room," He said as he walked out of the room.

"You're missing out!" Hilling called.

"I don't care." Revive said as he left the room.

“What a killjoy,” Miracle scoffed, “Tieria will never be one of us.  He’s far too weak.”

“Don’t worry,” Ribbons said, “I think I have a fool-proof plan to get him off our hands.”

* * *

 

Destiny sat in Tieria's room. She had quite a bit to do before the mission but for some reason she didn't want to leave Tieria alone. She sighed as she tried to think of a way to get Tieria out of the situation he was in without getting in trouble but everything she thought of was bound to fail. She took his hand in hers, "I'll try everything I can to get you out of here and back to Celestial Being," She said softly, "You belong with them. Ribbons is being selfish keeping you here like this."

"Don't let Ribbons hear you say that,"

Destiny quickly turned around, "Revive, Gene," She said softly, "what are you two doing here?"

"I'm only here to wish you luck," Revive said, "I'll be heading to my room."

"Wait Revive," Destiny said, "I've been meaning to ask you this for a few days. How do you feel towards what Anew did?"

"I'm impartial," He said, "I'm sure Anew had her reasons and I honor the decision she made. She may have saved Tieria's life by giving him that medication but at the same time Tieria might have pulled trough on his own. I'm just a little angry that Ribbons wouldn't treat Tieria’s illness. He may not be the most reliable, but he's still our comrade." He opened the door, "I'll take my leave now."

"Thank you Revive," Destiny said.

"Why are you thanking me?" He asked as he turned to face Destiny again.

"You gave me the answer I was looking for," Destiny said, "The others are all angry about the decision she made."

"I know," Revive said, "I wish you luck." He then walked from the room.

"How is he?" Regene asked softly.

Destiny sighed, "He's doing better than he has been doing, but he's still not at all well."

Regene sighed, "In other words, he's in no condition to pilot," He said.

Destiny nodded sadly, "He can't stay here," She said, "It's not healthy for him. He's not eating, he's lost weight, he's just…deteriorating. If we don't get him out of here soon, he'll die. We may not be human but we still need everything that humans need in order to survive and he's not getting that here." She paused to try and hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, "As sick and twisted as this may sound, I wish Veda would just let him self-destruct his mobile suit and put him out of his misery."

Regene sighed and looked down at Tieria, "You don't really mean that," He said softly.

"I know I don't," Destiny said as she wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes, "But I can't help but feel that way. He's suffering so much and I just…can't stand it anymore. If only there was just some way to deactivate his mobile suit just long enough for Celestial Being to capture him…he would be alright."

"But would they welcome him back?" Regene said.

"He’s a Meister,” Destiny said, “Why wouldn’t they?”

"He’s been forced to fight against them, Destiny," Regene said, "He’s a traitor to their organization."

"He's still their comrade," Destiny said softly, "Dead, alive or captured by the enemy, he's still a Gundam Meister."


	2. To Stop the Fightning

Several hours later Destiny entered Tieria's room to try and wake him up.  She had already gotten herself ready for the mission now she needed to help Tieria get ready. She was surprised when she found that Tieria was already awake.

"Did Regene wake you up?" She asked.

Tieria only nodded as he sat up and put his glasses on. He still wasn't feeling quite himself, his stomach wasn't bothering him anymore but he just didn't feel right.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. Again Tieria didn't respond he just shook his head, "Where's Regene?"

"He went to get me something to drink," He answered softly as he stood up.

Destiny nodded, "I'll wait outside while you get ready." She said as she left the room. As she entered the hallway she met up with Regene, "Gene."

"How's he doing?" Regene asked.

Destiny sighed again, "It's hard to tell if he's still just groggy or if he's feeling sick again," She said, "He's not really talkative right now." She paused, "I've got a feeling that things are not going to go well today."

Regene sighed, "That's what I'm worried about," He said as the door to Tieria's room opened, "Ah, Tieria I've brought you a water bottle." He then looked at Tieria and gasped. His twin looked worse right now than he did when he had fallen asleep three and a half hours earlier. He was extremely pallid, there were deep, dark circles under his glazed garnet eyes and his flight suit was baggy again, meaning he had lost more weight. Weight that Regene knew Tieria would not be able to gain back. "Are you sure his fever hasn't come back?" Destiny nodded and Regene bit his lip.

"When are we leaving?" Tieria asked softly.

"In about ten minutes," Destiny said, "Why?"

"I don't feel well…"

Destiny and Regene sighed again. They both knew that Tieria wasn't one to lie about how he felt, "Is it your stomach?" Destiny asked. Tieria shook his head and Destiny sighed again, "I checked your temperature twice this morning you're not feverish." Tieria walked up to Destiny and leaned up against her. “ _Could he have relapsed_?” She thought as she noticed the sweat that had accumulated on the boy's forehead, “ _He's drenched in sweat_.”

"Is something wrong, Tieria?"

Tieria look up and saw Ribbons standing near Regene, "I don't feel well." He murmured.

Ribbons faked a soft smile, "You're probably just nervous about facing Celestial Being.  It’s your first big mission in a long time," He said as he placed his hand on Tieria's clammy cheek, "But Tieria, I can assure you, Celestial Being is nothing you have to worry about. You've been piloting the mobile suit I've given you for nearly four years now. One of their pilots has been locked up during those years, one of them has been wandering Earth for the past five years and the third is a novice." He moved his hand to Tieria's shoulder, "I'm having you take care of them because not only are you my best pilot, I feel as though you'll be able to take care of them quickly." He smiled again, "Please try to cheer up. I wish you two luck today."

Ribbons walked away leaving Destiny fuming, “ _You lying asshole_!” She thought, _“You're sending him because you want him dead! Very few pilots have gone against Celestial Being and lived to tell about it_!” She turned her attention to Tieria, “ _He's in no condition to pilot…”_ Her thoughts were then interrupted as her maroon eyes turned gold, "Veda…!"

Tieria and Regene looked up at Destiny and before he could say anything Regene's red eyes turned gold.

Tieria slowly opened his eyes, "Destiny…Regene…" he muttered. He then winced as a sharp pain shot through his head, “ _Veda…! But…why…?_ ” He then gasped as the pain increased ten-fold and he fell to his knees clutching his head, "No…not you," he gasped as his vision grew dim, "Get out…get out…of…my head…"

_“No Tieria Erde, you cannot be trusted to do things on your own. Which is why I am going to make sure you do exactly what you are ordered to, nothing more, nothing less. Do I make myself clear?”_

“Get out of my head!”

" _Tieria!"_

* * *

 

When Destiny and Regene came out of their trances they found Tieria on the floor. His eyes were rapidly changing between their normal garnet and the golden hue they obtained when he was linking with Veda.

"Tieria!" Destiny cried as Tieria's eyes returned to their normal color and shut as he lost consciousness. "Come on Tieria wake up!"

* * *

 

" _Tieria, Tieria!"_

He could hear someone calling his name but what had happened? Why did he have such a terrible headache? He slowly opened his eyes and found that he was lying on the floor with his head on Destiny's lap, "Destiny…"

"Thank goodness," She said softly as she placed a damp cloth to Tieria's forehead, "What happened?"

"He tired to control me," Tieria muttered as he shut his eyes, "He told me that he was going to make sure I followed orders."

"Who Tieria?" She asked.

"Are you two ready?" A voice asked before Tieria could answer.

"Just about sir," Destiny said, "Just give us a minute, Tieria fainted and he's just come around."

"Did he?" Ribbons asked faking a sympathetic tone, "I thought I told you that Celestial Being is nothing to get worked up about." He said, "You'll be fine." Tieria nodded, "Come on," Ribbons said as he pulled a still dizzy Tieria to his feet, "Just relax."

Ribbons let go of Tieria's arm. The purple haired boy swayed dangerously on his feet and would have fallen if Regene had not have been there to catch him. "Destiny," He said softly as Ribbons walked away, "I think he's feverish again."

"Hold on sir," Destiny called as she placed her hand on Tieria's forehead, "Tieria's running a fever again."

Ribbons turned and walked over to them, "Really?" he asked as he placed his hand on Tieria's forehead, "I'll be the judge of that." He paused.  There was no denying that Tieria was once again running a fairly high fever, but that was no reason to put yet another mission on hold. "Are you sure? His skin feels normal to me. I expect to see the two of you in the hangar in five minutes."

"But sir…"

Ribbons slapped Destiny in the face again, "I don't fucking care if he's running a fever or not!" He roared, "He's going to sortie!" He then swiftly walked away.

Destiny sighed, "I'm sorry Tieria," She said as she rubbed her cheek, "I tried."

"It's fine," Tieria said as he pulled away from Regene, who was reluctant to let him stand on his own, "Veda wants me to fight, she has something she wants me to do."

Destiny nodded then helped steady Tieria on the walk to the hangar.

* * *

 

"Good," Ribbons said, "I see you two are finally done making excuses. Now get in your mobile suits and get out of my sight."

Destiny sighed as helped Tieria get to his mobile suit, "If you really start feeling sick during the mission I want you to fall back and I'll deal with it." She whispered.

Tieria nodded and got in his mobile suit. “ _Veda,_ ” Tieria thought, _“I hope your plan works.”_ "Tieria Erde, launching."

* * *

 

Sumeragi sighed as she walked by the room that had been assigned to Tieria Erde. While they had successfully recovered the GN-Drive, they had been unable to recover both the Meister and his Gundam after the disastrous operation fallen angels five years earlier. Tieria's status had been listed as missing in action and while the others had long since given up in the hope of his return, Sumeragi had not. For some reason she had a lot of faith in the boy and she knew that if he was out there somewhere, alive and well, he would return. She opened the automatic door and entered the room. The room was bare save for a neatly folded purple and white uniform and flight suit. She sat down on the bed and sighed, “ _Tieria…_ ”

"Ms. Sumeragi."

She looked up and saw the newest Meister, Lyle Dylandi, "Lockon…"

The Meister sighed as he realized what she had been doing, "Don't you think it's about time you got rid of that?" he asked indicating the purple uniform, "It's been five years."

"I know it has," Sumeragi said softly, "What about it?"

"Well," Lyle started, "Don't you think…"

"Think what?" Sumeragi asked.

"Don't you think it's time to give up looking for the kid and change his status to killed in action?" Lyle asked, "It's obvious he's not coming back."

Sumeragi stood up and slapped Lyle in the face, "Unless I see Tieria Erde's lifeless body with my own two eyes his status will remain missing in action!" Sumeragi yelled as tears fell from her eyes, "Now get out!"

Lyle knew that there was no arguing with Sumeragi when she got like that. He just sighed and walked from the room leaving the tactician to cry alone.

* * *

 

Setsuna sighed as he walked by Tieria's room. As much as he wanted to tell Sumeragi that he had seen Tieria alive, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that the pilot she was looking for had been piloting an enemy mobile suit. He was about to try and comfort her when the alarm went off.

" _Enemy mobile suits detected!"_ Feldt's voice called over the intercom,  _"Meisters are to report to their Gundams and remain on stand-by. Sumeragi, please report to the bridge."_

"Sumeragi Li Noriega," Setsuna called as the tactician headed off in the opposite direction,

Sumeragi gasped in shock and turned almost expecting to see a pair of disapproving garnet eyes behind a pair of thin glasses, "Se-Setsuna," She gasped

"Are you alright?" Setsuna asked

"For a moment I thought you were Tieria," She said softly, "You had better get going."

Setsuna nodded and headed off to his Gundam. On the way he saw the unused Gundam that had been built for Tieria.  They had the solar furnace to power the machine but since they had yet to find a replacement pilot, the machine sat useless in the corner of the hangar.

"Setsuna."

"Lockon…"

"We're waiting for you," Lockon said, "The rest of us are ready to go."

"Roger," Setsuna said as he entered his own Gundam and got ready for combat.

* * *

 

Destiny sighed as she saw the Ptolemaios on the monitor of her mobile suit. She could tell that the three Gundams had already launched. She opened the communications line and saw that Tieria was asleep. She sighed, _“As much as I hate to admit it, for once I'm thankful for one of Ribbons’ rules_.”

"Tieria," She called, "Wake up." She watched as Tieria's eyes slowly opened and he groggily lifted his head, "Are you feeling any better?" She asked. Tieria shook his head and Destiny sighed, "Fall back Tieria," She said, "I'll deal with Celestial Being."

"I'll be alright," Tieria said softly.

Destiny sighed, "I'm taking your mobile suit off of autopilot," She said, "Please, if you think you're going to pass out tell me and I'll hold them off while you fall back."

Tieria nodded. He looked towards the Ptolemaios and he immediately felt sick to his stomach. He could see the GN particles from three Gundams _, “They've replaced Lockon and Allelujah,”_ He thought, _“I wonder if they've replaced me yet…”_

" _Tieria, are you ready?"_

"Yes," He answered, _“Please_ ,” He thought, “ _Don't let any of them get killed because of me...”_

* * *

 

Setsuna was the first to see the two enemy mobile suits, _“That's…that's Tieria Erde's mobile suit!”_ He thought, “ _Is there anyway we could possibly get him back…?”_

“Allelujah, Lockon, avoid attacking the larger of the two mobile suits.”

“Why?” The other two pilots responded.

“Just trust me,” Setsuna responded, “Don’t attack that mobile suit!”

* * *

 

Allelujah noticed that something about this operation was awry. The larger of the two enemy mobile suits seemed to be falling further and further behind the other. Then Setsuna wasn't pursuing the enemies. “ _Something about this feels wrong_ ,” He _thought “Is this a trap? Why aren't the enemies attacking us yet? Why isn't Setsuna attacking yet? What's going on here?”_

_“Allelujah, Lockon, avoid attacking the larger of the two mobile suit.”_ Setsuna called.

“Why?”

_“Just trust me…Don’t attack that mobile suit!”_

* * *

 

Lyle was getting frustrated, _“This is how Celestial Being fights?”_ He thought, _“Well if Setsuna and Allelujah won't start this battle, I will.”_ He looked towards the mobile suits that were slowly approaching and took aim on the larger of the two. He was just about to pull the trigger and destroy his target when the Double-O got in his way. "Setsuna what the hell are you thinking?" he called, "I was just about to shoot!"

"I said don't attack that mobile suit!" Setsuna called back.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lyle called, "We're supposed to be killing these guys!"

"I said don't attack that mobile suit!" Setsuna yelled.

"Why can't I attack that mobile suit?" Lyle asked.

"The pilot is a friend," Setsuna said. He knew there was no way that Tieria could attack them. Tieria may have been cold towards the other members of Celestial Being but he was also extremely loyal to them. _“Even if he went through five years of brainwashing Tieria Erde couldn’t bring himself to kill one of us.”_

* * *

 

Ribbons wasn’t happy. He had been watching the battle through Veda and so far, what should have been a brutal massacre of his two weakest pilots was a mere waiting game. _“Tieria and Destiny aren't doing anything,”_ He thought, _“Looks like I'll need to_ motivate _all of the pilots on the field.”_

* * *

 

Tieria was having a hard time trying to pilot his mobile suit. His vision wouldn't stay in focus and the heat from the fever he was running was making him incredibly drowsy. He was about to page Destiny when a sharp pain shot through his already poundng head.  _“I see you can't bring yourself to attack your old comrades so I'm going to have to force you to do it.”_ Tieria gasped as he felt Ribbons force his way into his head. Then he felt as his body went numb and he could only watch in horror as his hand pulled the trigger against his will. Tears fell from his eyes as he tried to break the mental hold on him.

* * *

 

Destiny, Allelujah, and Lyle watched in shock as Tieria made the first move and fired at Setsuna.

"Some friend you've got there Setsuna," Lyle said, "He's attacking you."

Setsuna dodged the fire and flew closer to Tieria's suit. _“Could I have been wrong about Tieria Erde?”_ He thought, _“No…this happened the last time too…”_

"Setsuna," Allelujah called, "Fight back!" Setsuna was directly in front of the enemy and he wasn't attacking or letting anyone else attack.

"I won't!" Setsuna yelled as he continued to deflect the shots that Tieria was firing.

"Setsuna you're being stupid," Lyle said, "He's going to kill you!"

"Come on Setsuna let us shoot him," Allelujah said as he approached the suit hoping that he could find an opening to attack.

"I won't let you!" Setsuna yelled as he grabbed the gun from Tieria's mobile suit and threw it aside. He then brought out a beam saber and cut the hands off the suit. “ _That should keep him at bay.”_

* * *

 

Tieria couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted to end it but with Ribbons' hold on him, there was nothing he could do. “ _Setsuna get out of here_ ,” he thought as his hand closed around the trigger again _, “I don't want to kill you.”_ Then something happened Setsuna pulled the gun away from his mobile suit then cut the hands off. _“Thank you, Setsuna_.” he thought as he felt Ribbons' hold fluctuate and Tieria regained control of his body.

"Destiny," he called, "I'm sorry.”

" _Tieria_ ," Destiny said, " _What do you mean?"_

"I can't stand it anymore," He said as he placed his hand on the self-destruct mechanism, "Protect my former comrades." He then activated the mechanism and tried to push Setsuna away, "Get out of here Setsuna." He then let go of the controls of his mobile suit and waited for the explosion to end his life.

* * *

 

" _Protect my former comrades,"_ Tieria called over the communications line

_“Shit!”_ Destiny thought, _“Not again!”_ She then concentrated on the orange Gundam that was trying to attack Tieria. She flew in between the two mobile suits and hoped that Veda would prevent the fiery explosion that would probably kill the four of them, “ _We've got five seconds left…Veda stop him!”_ She pleaded mentally.

Then at the very last second she felt her mobile suit jerk forwards. She turned her suit and watched in horror as Tieria's suit exploded, engulfing the four mobile suits that were in the proximity, in fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, that's not good. I'll post the next chapter in a few days or so. Let me know what you thought~!


	3. Trusting the Enemy

Destiny opened her eyes and found that aside from the fact that her cockpit had been ripped open her mobile suit was still operational. She hurried over to the twisted remains of the mobile suit and pried the cockpit open.

"Tieria," She called in a futile attempt to get a response. She nearly cried when she found that there was a several centimeter piece of shrapnel lodged in his side and as she approached she found that he was still breathing. “ _Hopefully they capture us_ ,” Destiny thought, “ _He won't make it if I try to take him back to base.”_

* * *

 

"Mileina, get me the Meister's statuses now!" Sumeragi ordered.

"Mister Stratos was unaffected," the teenager said, "Signs of life detected from both Arios and Double O both Gundams have taken damage. There’s no response from the Double-0. One of the enemy mobile suits is sending out a distress signal, Ms. Noriega, what should I do?"

"Lockon," Sumeragi called, "Recover the Arios and Double O. Then recover both enemy mobile suits!"

" _Are you sure that's a good idea?"_ Lyle asked,  _"They did come after us."_

"Do not question me," Sumeragi snapped, "Just do what I tell you to!"

" _Alright, alright,"_  Lyle called back,  _"I'll do what you say."_

 _“What the fuck was that?”_ Sumeragi thought, “ _No one really attacked, then the larger of the two mobile suits went berserk and then exploded. What the hell was that all about?”_

* * *

 

Destiny watched as the third Gundam approached the other two. _“I wonder what they're going to do when they find out that one of their comrades caused that explosion,”_ She thought _, “I really hope they take him back because…he's got nowhere else to go…”_

" _Can you hear me?"_  A voice called over the intercom.

"Yes," Destiny answered as she took Tieria's left wrist to keep his pulse.

" _My name is Sumeragi Li Noriega, did you put out the distress call?"_

"Yes I did," Destiny said as she looked at the piece of metal that had impaled Tieria, "My comrade is severely injured. I would try to get back to our base but both of our mobile suits are damaged and I don't think he would make it."

" _I've got somebody coming to get you now. We are willing to treat any and all injuries you may have sustained as long as you're willing to answer some questions."_

"I understand," Destiny called, "Thank you Ms. Noriega."

" _Just understand that we may have to keep the two of you as prisoners of war."_

"I think that's what he wants," Destiny said, "Is it possible to get a private medical bay?"

" _We do have medical bay that is reserved for prisoners. It doesn't have full regeneration capabilities."_

"That should be fine." Destiny said, "Just as long as it keeps him alive."

" _Our escort should be getting to you now."_

"I see it," Destiny said as she darkened the visor on Tieria's helmet so his face could not be seen, "I thank you."

" _Beginning docking sequences,_ " A young girl's voice came,  _"Capturing enemy mobile suits."_

Destiny sighed and looked towards Tieria. His blood pressure had dropped which would have worried her if his pulse hadn't been abnormally fast due to fever.

" _Can you please get out of the cockpit?"_

Destiny sighed and opened the cockpit, "Can you help me get my partner out of here?" She asked, "He's severely injured and I don't want to move him on my own."

"Sure," The young girl responded, "Mister Aeon, will you help her?"

A tall dark haired man approached the cockpit and helped Destiny lift Tieria from the cockpit, "Thank you sir," Destiny said, "I should introduce myself, my name is Destiny Wish."

"I'm Lasse Aeon."

"My name is Mileina Vashti," The girl said, "What is your partner's name?"

"I think…he would rather introduce himself when he's recovered," Destiny said softly, "I don't want to reveal his name…for his sake…"

* * *

 

Ribbons was quite pleased when he lost contact with the two pilots he had sent out.

"I take it the two defects finally bit the dust," Miracle asked as she looked at the monitor.

“I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed and surprised Destiny Wish didn’t follow orders,” Ribbons lamented, “She’s a very competent pilot and she used to be extremely obedient but then I made the mistake of letting her work with Tieria.  He’s affected her in a way I didn’t foresee but should have expected.”

“What do you mean?”

"It doesn’t matter,” Ribbons said.

"Now if only we could off Regene like that,” Miracle said, “Then we’d be set.”

"Regene won’t pilot a mobile suit.”

“Why?”

“He just won’t.”

"He's so fucking weird."

"I would rather watch than participate, it's more fun that way," Regene said as he entered the room.

"More fun that way?" Miracle asked, "Heh, you really are strange. Oh and by the way we finally got rid of your twin."

Regene frowned slightly, "I saw," He said, "But I have one question, let's say they survived and were taken in by Celestial Being. What would you do?"

"Kill them myself," Ribbons said, "They're no use to me if they failed their mission and let themselves get captured by the enemy.”

Regene frowned more and left the room to try and warn Destiny.

* * *

 

Destiny sighed as she sat in a medical room. Tieria was lying on one of the beds but she had refused to remove his helmet so they could start the treatment. “ _I know I'm being selfish...”_ She thought, “ _The longer I keep his identity from them, the more danger I put him in, but…I can't bring myself to tell them that their comrade has been alive and fighting for their enemy all this time.”_

" _Destiny,"_ Regene's voice resonated in her head,  _"Don't come back, Ribbons will kill both of you if you do."_

Before Destiny could answer her link to Veda as well as the other innovades was broken. She sighed.  She knew that was going to happen because it was what she had asked Veda to do.

"I sorry to keep you waiting," A brunette woman greeted as she walked in the room, "I had some things to attend to."

"It's fine," Destiny responded, "I understand that your crew members come first."

Sumeragi looked at the blue haired girl in front of her. There was just something about this girl that reminded her of Tieria. Perhaps it was the unnatural hair and eye color, or perhaps it was the girl's extremely fair skin, or maybe it was the slightly disdaining frown on the girl's face. Whatever it was, this girl definitely reminded her of Tieria. "My name is Sumeragi Li Noriega," she said, "I am Celestial Being's tactician."

"My name is Destiny Wish.”

"First of all do you want to remove your partner's helmet so we can give him the treatment he needs?" Sumeragi asked. Destiny shook her head and Sumeragi sighed, "Are you sure?" Destiny nodded, "Alright then, were you sent from the A-Laws?"

"No," Destiny answered, "My partner and I were deemed unfit for the A-Laws."

"Then who sent you here?" Sumeragi asked.

"Ribbons Alamark.  We were sent so you would kill my partner.  I was supposed to retreat and abandon my partner once the battle started, leaving him to fend for himself against three Gundams.  But…"

" _Sumeragi!"_ A half-panicked and half-excited male voice called through a communicator, cutting Destiny off mid sentence.

"Ian," Sumeragi said, "What is it?"

" _I ran some tests on the enemy mobile suits,"_  Ian said, “ _And found that the pilot biometric data stored in one of them is a one hundred percent match of Tieria Erde’s biometric data! There is no other pilot biometric data in stored in its system! He’s alive Sumeragi! Tieria's alive and he fell right into our laps!"_

"Thank you Ian," Sumeragi said. She then looked over at the unconscious pilot, then at the girl and finally everything made sense, "The pilot over there is Tieria Erde, isn't it?"

Destiny sighed, "Yes," She said softly, "It is."

Sumeragi covered her mouth, "He _is_ alive…" She gasped, "Hurry up and get him in the capsule!" Destiny removed Tieria's helmet and Sumeragi nearly cried as she looked at the pilot they had spent so much time and effort trying to find. "He looks so much thinner then I remember him being," Sumeragi said as she started the capsule's computer, "What happened to him?"

"He's been really sick recently," Destiny said, "And for some reason he hasn't really been able to eat in months."

"Is it alright if I have a new crew member take charge of his recovery?" Sumeragi asked.

"Yes," Destiny said, "I don't want the others to know about him until he is well again."

Sumeragi nodded as she looked at the monitor, "He's feverish," She muttered, "Thirty-eight point seven. Has he been on any type of medication?"

"No," Destiny said, "Well a few days ago we did administer a fever reducer because he was sick but that should be out of his system by now, why?"

"It's saying that he has a high level of tranquillizers in his blood."

"What!" Destiny exclaimed. Then something clicked in her mind, "Ribbons…that bastard!"

Sumeragi sighed, "He's extremely malnourished," She said, "What has he gone through in the past five years?"

"He's gone through hell," Destiny said, "He was held against his will with no freedom. The only time he was let out of him room was when he was sent on missions."

"That explains the almost severe muscle atrophy," Sumeragi said, "It's going to take him months to fully recover, if he fully recovers at all." She sighed, "I'm going to run a full-body scan to determine the best course of action for his treatment. He got seriously lucky. It looks like the shrapnel did not hit any vital organs." She glanced at the monitor, "Estimated recovery time a week to a week and a half."

"How are your other two pilots doing?" Destiny asked.

"Allelujah was just a little bit banged up but is otherwise fine," Sumeragi responded, "Setsuna on the other hand he's just as bad if not worse off than Tieria. His condition is critical but we were able to stabilize him and he'll make a full recovery."

Destiny sighed, "He's already got enough eating away at him, this is going to kill him."

"What do you mean?" Sumeragi asked.

Destiny sighed, "Tieria caused the explosion that injured two of your pilots," She said softly.

"What?" Sumeragi asked completely stunned at the girl's statement.

"Tieria activated the self-destruct mechanism in his mobile suit," Destiny explained, "He's done it in the past six missions…but this is the first time it's worked."

"Tieria was…suicidal…?" Sumeragi asked as she looked over at the unconscious pilot in front of her.  She found it hard to believe that Tieria would ever try to take his own life.

"If you won't take him back, I can completely understand," Destiny said, "He has been working for the enemy and he did injure two of your pilots. We can head to Earth as soon as he recovers."

"No," Sumeragi said, "I don't care what he's done in the past five years, Tieria Erde is a Gundam Meister. He will remain here whether the others want him around or not."

Destiny smiled a bit, “ _Gene was right_ ,” she thought, "Thank you.”

"Well there's a lot I have to do," Sumeragi said, "Feel free to roam around the ship if you want to."

"You're giving me access to the entire ship?" Destiny asked.

"Of course," Sumeragi responded, "We're really shorthanded here. We need all the help we can get and it's just a guess but your commander isn't the type to welcome you back with open arms is he?"

"No, he's not," Destiny answered, "I've already been told that if I return I will be imprisoned or killed for disobeying my original orders and for allowing myself to be captured by the enemy."

"Well then," Sumeragi said, "From this moment forwards, you are a member of Celestial Being."

"Thank you, Sumeragi Li Noriega.”

Sumeragi grimaced as her full name was used, "Please call me Sumeragi," She said as she looked over at the comatose pilot in the medical capsule. She had heard the boy call her by her first name too many times and since she had re-joined Celestial Being she had not allowed anyone to use her full name. "There's no needed to be so formal. Well come on there's really nothing more we can do to help him right now so let's let him rest for a while."

"Where are we going Ms. Noriega?" Destiny asked.

"To meet the rest of the crew," Sumeragi responded, "I'll have someonecome down here and monitor him in a little bit once the capsule's scan ends but for now there's not much we can do." 

Destiny followed Sumeragi to the bridge.

* * *

 

"Sumeragi, who is this?" A young man with one gold eye and one sliver eye asked.

"She was one of the pilots sent here today," Sumeragi responded.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" A man with a longer red hair and green eyes, "She was sent here by the enemy."

“I’ve thoroughly evaluated her and her situation and I have decided that she’s not a threat to us.  She wasn’t with the A-Laws and she will be joining our crew as of today,” Sumeragi paused, “She also has information on Tieria Erde’s whereabouts.”

"Tieria!" A girl with pink hair exclaimed.

"Mister Erde is a Meister, right?" A girl with brown hair and a yellow outfit asked, "I thought he died during operation Fallen Angels."

"You've been listening to Lockon too much, Mileina," Sumeragi said, "This girl says that Tieria is still alive."

"Is it true?" The young man with the different colored eyes asked, "Is Tieria still out there somewhere?"

"Yes," Destiny responded, "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Destiny Wish."

"My name is Mileina Vashti," The girl in yellow said.

"I'm Allelujah Haptism," The young man with the two different colored eyes said.

"My name is Feldt Grace," The pink haired girl said.

"I don't think this is a good idea," The red haired man said, "I don't care if she does have information on your dear missing pilot. How can you be sure she's not leading us into a trap?"

Sumeragi walked up to the Meister and slapped him in the face again, "She is going to be a new crew member so introduce yourself to her then get out of my sight!"

"Fine," Lockon said, "I'm Lockon." He then left the bridge.

Sumeragi sighed, "I'm sorry about him," She said, "He's new."

"It's fine," Destiny said, "He's still a lot nice than most of my subordinates were."

"I have a question," Allelujah said as he addressed Destiny, "You tried to protect me earlier, why?"

"Because he told me to," Destiny said.

"Who?" Allelujah asked.

"My comrade," Destiny answered, "Our commander had activated my partner’s self-destruct mechanism and my partner didn’t want anyone to get caught in it. But the other pilot ended up severely injured…he's not going to like that."

"Mileina will you go down to the isolation bay with Destiny," Sumeragi asked, "You're going to be in charge of the other pilot's treatment."

"Alright," The girl said, "Are you coming Miss Wish?"

"Yes," Destiny said.

"Do you know why you're partner's self-destruct function was activated?" Mileina asked as the two girls walked to the isolation bay.

"Our commander didn't like him," Destiny said, "And wanted to get rid of him."

"Ms. Sumeragi has been really upset lately," Mileina said, "I've never seen her hit anyone before. I know it has something to do with the Meister who's still missing, Ms. Sumeragi worries about everyone."

"That's really nice of her," Destiny said as they entered the isolation bay, "You can't tell anyone what he looks like or who he is. I don't know if he wants his identity to be revealed."

"Alright," Mileina said. She took a look at the comatose boy, "I've seen him in a picture in Ms. Sumeragi room and I remember seeing him around when I was a kid," She said, "Miss Wish is this boy Mister Erde?"

"Yes," Destiny said softly, "Please don't tell anyone it's him."

"I don't mean to be blunt, but are you two lovers?" Mileina asked.

"No," Destiny said, "Our commander would have never allowed that. I was more his caretaker than anything else."

"Oh I see," Mileina said, "What is he like?"

"He's very quiet," Destiny said, "But I'm not the best person to ask, I don't think I ever knew his true personality."

"Okay," Mileina said.

Oi Millie," A voice called as the door opened, "So this is where you were hiding."

"Mister Dylandi," Mileina called, "What are you doing here?"

"This is where I get my treatments, remember?" A man who looked exactly like Lockon said. At first Destiny thought it was Lockon but this man had a patch over his right eye. He then stopped as his gaze fell upon the unconscious boy in the capsule, "I don't believe it…Tieria."

"Mister Dylandi," Mileina said, "You can't tell anyone about him."

"Oh I know," He said, "If it was up to Ms. Sumeragi he would be in the main sick bay with Setsuna. Since he's here I take it someone doesn't want the rest of the crew to know about him." His gaze then turned upon the blue haired girl standing by the capsule, "Who might you be?"

"My name is Destiny Wish, and for the past five years I have been taking care of Tieria."

"The name's Neil Dylandi," He said as he walked up to the capsule, "He looks a lot weaker then he did five years ago, and I'm sure it's not just the chunk of metal sticking out of his side…But he looks…fragile and sickly. I've seen the kid totally passed out before but…he's never looked like this. What happened to him?"

"He was found by a man named Ribbons Alamark right after Fallen Angels," Destiny said, "For the past five years he was held as a prisoner of war and was allowed very little freedom. But more recently…he started deteriorating. He stopped eating, he's been running a high fever for the past week and a half, he's lost weight and he hasn't been sleeping well."

"That doesn't sound like the strong and stable Tieria Erde I knew," Neil responded, "I wonder what he's going to do when he sees me, he thinks I'm dead."

"And everyone else seems to think he's dead," Destiny said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Neil is alive in this and for now, we're just gonna leave it at that. Lyle goes by Lockon while Neil goes by Neil. So Destiny and Tieria got picked up by Celestial Being but what's gonna happen now? Let me know what you thought.


	4. Painful Realizations

He could hear bits and pieces of a distant conversation as he slowly became aware of his surroundings.

" _Miss Wish, is this boy Mister Erde?"_  A child-like voice asked.

" _Yes, But please don't tell anyone he's here."_ A familiar voice responded.

" _I don't mean to be blunt but are you two lovers?"_

" _No, our commander would have never allowed that, I was more his caretaker than anything else."_

" _Oh, I see, what's he like?"_  Why was this stranger asking so many questions about him?

" _He was very quiet, but I'm not the best person to ask. I'm sure I didn't know his true personality."_

" _Okay."_

" _Oi Millie, so this is where you were hiding?"_ Wait he knew that voice. That was the voice of…

" _Mister Dylandi, what are you doing here?"_ Wait, Lockon was alive? Now he really needed to open his eyes.

" _This is where I get my treatments, remember? I don't believe it…Tieria"_

" _Mister Dylandi you can't tell anyone about him."_

" _Oh I know. If it was up to Ms. Sumeragi he would be up in the main sick bay with Setsuna. Since he's here I take it someone doesn't want the rest of the crew to know about him."_ Setsuna was in the medical bay? Was he there because of what he had done? Was Setsuna alright?

“Oh no…” He thought as he tried to will his eyes open, “Setsuna…”

" _My name is Destiny Wish, and for the past five years I have been taking care of Tieria."_ Destiny was alright, that made him feel a little better.

" _The name's Neil Dylandi."_ Lockon was alive! Tieria was in so much pain but he needed to wake up he needed to make sure that this wasn't just a dream.  _"He looks a lot weaker than he did five years ago, and I'm sure it's not just the chunk of metal sticking out of his side, but he look…fragile and sickly. I've seen the kid totally passed out before but he's never looked like this. What happened to him?"_

" _He was found by Ribbons Alamark after fallen Angels. For the past five years he was held as a prisoner of war and was allowed very little freedom. But more recently…he started deteriorating. He stopped eating, he's been running a high fever for the past week and a half, he's lost weight and he hasn't been sleeping well."_ He tried to force his eyes open but he was too weak.

“Come on,” he thought, “I need to open my eyes…I need to see if this is real…”

" _That doesn't sound like the strong and stable Tieria Erde I remember. I wonder what he's going to do when he sees me, he thinks I'm dead."_

“If this is real, Lockon's not dead...” Tieria thought, “I need to open my eyes…”

" _And everyone thinks he's dead."_

“No…I need to wake up…please…I need to see if Lockon is really still alive!”

* * *

 

Neil sighed, "I already know that my brother is not going to welcome Tieria with open arms," He said, "And I don't know how Allelujah will react."

Then before Mileina or Destiny could answer, capsule's computer started beeping. "What's going on?" Destiny asked.

Mileina looked at the monitor, "It's saying that the scan is over and he's conscious," Mileina responded.

"In his condition, how is that possible?" Neil asked.

"Mister Dylandi call Ms. Sumeragi," Mileina said, "His heart rate is much too fast."

"Tieria," Destiny called, "If you can hear me, calm down."

"Ms. Sumeragi is on her way," Neil said, "How is he?"

"His pulse is coming down a bit," Mileina said, "Miss Wish keep talking to him."

"O-okay," Destiny said, "It's alright now, Tieria, you're back with Celestial Being."

"What's going on?" Sumeragi asked as she rushed into the room, "Please…don't tell me he's dying…"

"The scan is over and the computer is indicating that Mister Erde is conscious," Mileina said.

"What!" Sumeragi gasped, "Mileina open the capsule!"

"Roger," Mileina said as she did what she was told and the capsule opened.

Sumeragi walked up to the bed and knelt down, "Tieria," She called softly as she took the boy's hand in hers, "Can you hear me?"

"Sumeragi…" The boy whispered as his fever and pain glazed garnet eyes opened.

"Oh thank god," Sumeragi cried, "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? I thought you had gotten pulled into Earth's gravitational field after that battle five years ago. Tieria…"

"Am I…really back…?" Tieria asked.

"Yes," Sumeragi responded as she gave the boy a teary smile, "You're back."

"Is…Lockon…still alive…?"

"I go by my real name, Neil, now but I'm right here," Neil said as he knelt down next to the bed as well, "Hey kid, it's been a while."

"Neil," Tieria muttered as he smiled a bit, "You're alive…how…?"

"It doesn't matter," Neil said. He then turned to Sumeragi, "What treatment option are we going to take now?"

"The only option we have left," Sumeragi said, "Non-regenerative. It's obvious that, at least for now, the regeneration treatment is not going to be effective."

"In other words," Neil said, "The painful way."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said as she grabbed Tieria's hand again, "In a little while we're going to get that piece of metal out of your side. Given your condition, we cannot use any sort of anesthetic so I'm gonna need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?"

"Yes…" Tieria answered.

"That's good," Sumeragi said, "Neil, will you go get Linda?"

"Alright," Neil said as he stood up and left the room.

Sumeragi sighed. She knew that she would have to keep Tieria conscious while they worked on getting the shrapnel out of his side. And she knew that it would not be an easy task. "Mileina will you go and get a bowl of ice water and a face towel?"

"Okay," The girl said as she walked over to the office.

_“He's stayed conscious for this long despite his condition,”_ Sumeragi thought as she gently ran her fingers through the boy's purple hair _, “But he's so weak the chances of him going into shock when we remove the shrapnel are high…I'm worried…”_

"Sumeragi…" Tieria muttered, "What's…wrong…?"

She sighed again and smiled a bit, "I'm worried about you," She said, "You're in bad shape right now and it's only going to get worse when we try to remove the metal."

"Sumeragi," Mileina called as she walked to the bed holding a cloth and a bowl, "Do you want me to put the cloth on his forehead to try and cool him?"

"Yes please," Sumeragi said, "Does that feel any better?"

"Yeah…" Tieria said. The cold cloth felt good on his warm forehead. He smiled he missed this, he missed Sumeragi's motherly care. "Thank you…"

Then the door opened and Neil and a woman in her late thirties entered the room. "Sumeragi," The woman said, "Neil explained everything to me. I'm going to start right away. Mileina get him on an IV, saline only. As soon as he's on the IV I'll start removing the shrapnel."

The young girl set up the IV as Neil carefully cut the medical gown off of Tieria. Once it was off, they could see just how emaciated he was, "He's so thin…" Neil said as he carefully placed a thick blanket just below the shrapnel, "How much weight as he lost?"

"Nearly ten kilograms," Sumeragi said as she looked towards the computer, "He weighs about fifty-two kilograms now." Her conversation with Neil was cut short when Tieria gasped in pain as Mileina finally got the needle in his arm.

"Sumeragi will you keep the scanners on his stomach and the monitor towards me?" Linda asked, "And keep him conscious." She then looked at the monitor, "It's not in there deep. Alright here we go."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "I need you to grab onto my hand. And I also need you to stay with me, okay?" Tieria nodded. Then a pain like he had never experienced shot through his abdomen and he nearly fainted. "Tieria!" Sumeragi's panicked voice called out, "Come on stay with us."

"It hurts…" he gasped as the pain continued, "Please…make it…stop…"

"We can't Tieria," Sumeragi said as she sponged his forehead with the cold cloth, "That piece of metal is going to kill you if we don't remove it and we can’t give you any kind of medication right now. Come on stay with me."

"We have a new Gundam for you, Tieria," Neil said

"A new…Gundam…?" Tieria gasped as he tried to keep himself from fainting,

"Yeah," Neil said, "Come on kid, you're doing great, just a little more."

"Neil…" Tieria murmured, "It hurts…"

Neil sighed, "I know it does," He said, "But you're too weak and sick for any painkillers.  You can’t tolerate painkillers anyway."

"I missed you," He muttered. Then the stabbing pain lessened as he saw a severely blurred image of a woman holding a piece of metal that was covered in blood.

"You did great, Tieria," Sumeragi said as she wiped the sweat off of the boy's forehead.

"Can I…sleep…now…?" Tieria asked as the pain dwindled down to a dull throb.

Sumeragi looked at Linda, "Can he sleep now?" The brunette asked.

Linda looked at the monitor, "I don't see why not," Linda said, "There's no sign of internal bleeding and he's not bleeding very heavily. Heart rate is rapid but is slowly coming down to a normal rate. Tell him that he can fall asleep. It will be easier if he's unconscious when I stitch the wound."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said softly as she returned the cloth to the boy's forehead, "You can sleep now."

"Thank you," Tieria whispered as his eyes slid shut as he finally allowed himself to lose consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short chapter but I couldn't really break the chapters up any other way. I might try to start updating this story twice a week since if I continue to update this on a one chapter a week basis it'll take me over five MONTHS to upload just the content I have written (I have 25 chapters written and it's incomplete). Let me know what you thought~!


	5. Uncertainties

It had been almost two weeks since Tieria had woken up and the piece of shrapnel had been removed and the boy showed no sign of waking. And it had Sumeragi very worried.

"Linda," Sumeragi said as the older woman started her normal check up,

"What is it?" Linda said,

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Sumeragi asked, "It's been almost two weeks."

"Give him some time," Linda said, "It's a miracle that he woke up at all. But his fever broke a few days ago, his heart rate is strong and his stomach wound is healing nicely. The only thing that concerns me is his weight. I know you want him to pilot but he's much too light."

"What does he weigh?" Sumeragi asked.

"Fifty-two point eight kilograms," Linda said, "Five years ago he weighed about sixty-one kilograms. I need him to gain about four or five kilograms if he wants to pilot again."

"How are you going to do that?" Sumeragi asked, "We may need his assistance soon. With Setsuna on his way to Azadistan, we're down to only two pilots."

"I'm going to put him on a special diet," Linda said, “But Setsuna should be back within the next twenty-four hours.”

"Please don't do it right away," Destiny said as she walked into the room, "He hasn't been able to eat much in months. The last few times he was forced to eat, he got really sick."

"I understand that," Linda said, "I'm going to start him on either pudding or gelatin with an added supplement before I give him full meals. I want to get him used to eating first."

Destiny was about to say something but she was cut short by a soft moan.

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "You're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Sumeragi Li Noriega," Tieria gasped in shock.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, "How…?"

"You're back on the Ptolemaios," Sumeragi responded, "We were able to rescue you."

"You mean…I'm back?" Tieria asked almost not believing any of it.

"Yeah," Sumeragi said, _“He doesn't remember anything that happened the last time he woke up,”_ She thought, _“Oh well, I guess it's for the best.”_ She sighed, “So how are you feeling?”

 

Tieria thought for a moment. He wasn't feeling sluggish or groggy and the unbearable heat was gone, "I'm not feeling all that bad," he said as he sat up as much as he could without pain. He was feeling better now than he had ever felt in the past five years and he knew that there was no possible way he had fully recovered.

"That's good," Linda said, "Tieria I need you to sit up all the way for me."

Tieria nodded and went to sit up. He grimaced as the pain returned to his stomach and his head swam. He fell back against the pillows clutching his head with one hand and his stomach with the other.

"Tieria!" Sumeragi cried.

Linda sighed, "Your body's not ready for such movement yet," She said, "Pick a flavor: grape, cherry, lime, or orange."

"What?" Tieria asked, "Why?"

"Just pick a flavor." Linda said.

"Grape I guess," Tieria said remembering the color of his old uniform.

"Alright," Linda said, "I'll be right back." She then walked out of the room.

Neil walked up to Tieria as the boy propped himself up again, "Hey kid, you’re finally awake again!"

"Neil…you're alive…!" Tieria gasped.

"Yeah, I am," Neil said.

"How is that possible?" Tieria asked.

"We've been through this once before Tieria," Neil said, "It doesn't matter.”

"Tieria," Linda said as she walked into the room holding a tray, "I need you to eat something."

Tieria looked up and saw that Linda had brought him a small bowl of purple gelatin, "Grape gelatin?" he asked.

"You need to get used to eating again," Linda said, "You've lost a lot of weight and you need to gain it back." She placed the tray on Tieria's lap, "I need you to eat all of this."

Tieria nodded and started eating. After he had finished about half of the gelatin he started feeling sick and he put his spoon down.

"What's wrong?" Sumeragi asked.

"I feel sick," Tieria muttered.

"You have to eat all of it anyways," Sumeragi said, "If you don't gain some weight, you won't be able to pilot."

"I'll be able to pilot?" Tieria asked as he picked the spoon up again.

"We already have a Gundam built for you," Sumeragi said, "But it all depends on how well you recover.  We’re hoping that you will be able to pilot eventually but for now, you have a long way to go before you’re healthy enough."

Tieria sighed and struggled to finish the rest of the gelatin in front of him. When he did, he handed the tray back to Linda and clutched his stomach.

"Try to keep it down," Linda said, "There's a supplement in it to help you gain weight and redevelop muscle tone."

"I'm not going to be sick," Tieria said, "But my stomach hurts."

"Is it your injury?" Sumeragi asked.

"No," Tieria said, "My injury isn't bothering me at the moment."

Sumeragi smiled, _“He's gotten stronger. In just a week, he's gotten about ten times stronger,”_ She thought, _“Why was I so worried? I should have remembered that Tieria's not the type who will give in easily.”_

"Is something wrong, Sumeragi?" Tieria asked.

"It's nothing," Sumeragi said.

"Are you sure?" Tieria asked, "You look upset about something."

"I was really worried about you," Sumeragi said, "You disappeared without a trace for five years. Then all of a sudden you showed up in terrible physical shape, in an enemy mobile suit and sustained a serious injury." She put her hand on Tieria's shoulder, "Where were you all this time?"

Tieria sighed, "I don't even know," He said, "A lot of information was withheld from me.  Destiny would probably know more about it than I do."

“Even I don’t know where our base was located,” Destiny said as she walked up to the bed, “Our mobile suits were usually on autopilot and out displays were darkened if we were within a certain distance from the base.  If you wouldn't mind, I would like to talk with Tieria alone for a while."

"I understand," Sumeragi said as she stood up and left.

"Let me know when you're done," Neil said, "I too want to talk to Tieria, alone."

"Okay," Destiny said as Neil walked out of the room as well. "Tieria, do you remember anything that happened in the past two weeks or so?"

Tieria thought for a moment, "No, I can't say I do."

Destiny sighed, "Do you at least remember how you got here?" She asked.

"No," Tieria responded again, "I can't."

"We were sent here by Ribbons," She explained, "Our mission was to take out the members of Celestial Being but the true intent of the mission was to have you killed.  I was supposed to abandon you here once the Gundams launched." She paused, "Do you know how you sustained that injury to your stomach?" Tieria shook his head. “ _Was everything that happened blocked from his mind because of the traumatic nature… no wait…Veda! Veda must have blocked those memories from Tieria's mind…but why?”_

"Destiny is everything alright?" Tieria asked.

"Yeah I'm sorry," She said, "I'm sorry you have to hear this from me but…in the last mission you hit the self-destruct mechanism again, only it worked and your mobile suit exploded. Tell me something, is that why you wouldn't fall back despite the fever you were running?"

"Yes," Tieria said. Veda's last set of orders for him was the last thing he could remember before waking up, "Veda told me to activate the self-destruct mechanism."

"Veda…but why?" Destiny asked, "I seriously thought you were going to die, Tieria. Why would Veda do something like that?"

"Veda told me that if I did, I would be able to get away from Ribbons." Tieria said, "I needed to get out of there, I didn't care how."

"You took a serious risk Tieria," Destiny said, "How did you know it wasn't Ribbons trying to get rid of you?"

"I didn't.” Tieria responded, “But the instructions were different from the one Ribbons usually gave.”

Destiny sighed, "When your suit exploded, you damaged two of the Gundams," She said, "And you nearly destroyed my mobile suit."

Tieria gasped, "Who did I hit?" he asked.

"Setsuna and Allelujah," Destiny said.

"Please tell me they're alright." Tieria muttered.

"Allelujah waws fine," She said, "But Setsuna was in stable but critical condition." Tieria put his hand over his mouth, "Are you going to be sick?"

"No," Tieria mumbled, "What...what have I done?"

"He's already fully recovered, Tieria," Destiny said, "Don't worry about it too much."

Tieria sighed. He was beginning to get really drowsy, "How am I going to explain this to him?" He asked as he rested against the pillows, "How...?"

"I'm sure he'll understand," Destiny said, "I'll go get the others now."

Tieria sighed as he felt tears stinging his eyes _. “How am I going to explain what happened to Setsuna and the others?”_ He thought as he shut his eyes hoping that the tears wouldn't fall, _“Are they going to allow me back in after what I've done to them? If they don't, I've got nowhere to go. The Ptolemaios, Krung Thep and that hell hole have been my only "homes." What am I going to do if they reject me. I have never had a home on earth…”_ His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone's hand on his forehead.

"Hey are you feeling alright?" Neil asked. Tieria opened his eyes and the tears he was trying to hold back fell, "Tieria, you're crying."

"Neil…" Tieria murmured as he finally broke down. Neil was taken off guard by Tieria's actions. Neil had only seen Tieria cry once and that was after his eye had been injured by a GN-X fighter. Tieria had been a royal mess after that battle. The boy had passed out right after the battle, then once he came around, Tieria had gotten violently sick. Neil remembered staying up nearly all night with Tieria about a day after the incident. The kid cried the entire night and every so often he would make himself sick from working himself up so much.

"Calm down Tieria," Neil said as he gently embraced the boy.

"Just let him cry," Destiny said, "He needs to after the four years he went through."

Neil nodded and gently held Tieria until the boy exhausted himself.

* * *

 

Allelujah and Lyle stood in the observation deck.

"Can you believe that asshole pilot who injured Setsuna and trashed our Gundams is still alive and to make matters worse, he's still on this ship?" Lyle asked. "And what's even worse than that is that Ms. Sumeragi is spending more time with that bastard than she is with the rest of us. AND that blue-haired girl is being trained as a member of our organization!"

"I heard the the other pilot has woken up," Allelujah said, "Perhaps she's questioning him. And as for the girl, she probably saved my life the other day. She could have easily let me get caught up in the blast with Setsuna but she shielded me with her mobile suit.”

"Whatever, all I know is if it were me," Lyle said, "There would be no questioning. The only thing that bastard would get is a bullet to the head.

"He does have information about Tieria's whereabouts," Allelujah said, "Sumeragi is probably keeping him around until he tells us where Tieria is.”

"Tieria Erde is dead," Lyle stated, "They never found him. He was either dragged into Earth's atmosphere or he was completely incinerated. Which is what would have happened if he was dragged into Earth's atmosphere anyway."

"How can you be so sure?" Allelujah said, "Both Setsuna and I disappeared without a trace for five years and yet we're both still alive."

Lyle sighed. Allelujah had him against a wall with that retort. "It's different," he stammered.

"How is it different?" Allelujah asked.

"It just is alright?" Lyle yelled.

"What the hell are you yelling about?"

"Neil," Allelujah said. He was glad that he wasn't alone with Lyle anymore.

"It's nothing," Lyle murmured.

"Well you seemed pretty upset for it to be just nothing," Neil said.

"We were just discussing the fact that Sumeragi had been spending more time with the pilot we took prisoner than she is with us," Allelujah said.

"Well, she’s questioning him," Neil explained, “She already knows our story she wants to know his.”

"Why though?" Lyle asked, “He’s an enemy.”

"Eh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that," Neil said, “And besides that pilot we got last week is really fragile and a bit lost, so he'll probably be staying with us from now on."

"Is Ms. Sumeragi fucking stupid?" Lyle asked, "And what do you mean he's fragile and a bit lost? I swear all of you have lost your minds."

Neil pulled out a gun and pointed it at his brother, "You had better watch it," He said in a low voice, "Cuz you're really starting to piss me off. I don't care if you are my brother no one insults Ms. Sumeragi or any of our comrades in front of me."

"There is something I want to know," Lyle said as he turned towards the door, "Why was Setsuna protecting that pilot?"

"Setsuna's a smart boy," Neil said as he put his gun back, "He knew something about that pilot's identity that no one else did at the time."

"Fine," Lyle said, "It's your prerogative if you all want to get killed by that pilot when he snaps again. I'll just say I told you so."

Neil sighed as his brother walked from the room, "I don't know what I'm going to do with him." He said.

"If you don't mind me asking, why does he hate you so much?" Allelujah asked.

"I think he was jealous of me when we were younger." Neil said, "I was the "perfect" older twin and he was the "ignored middle child." But I'm not sure if that was the case. In junior high he went away to boarding school and after the death of our parents, I never saw or talked to him again."

"That's horrible." Allelujah said, "Hey, do you think that pilot we captured really has information on Tieria's whereabouts?"

"Yes," Neil said, "I think he does…no I  _know_ he does."

"I don't know if we can trust him though," Allelujah said, "Look what he did to Setsuna and our Gundam. That explosion did a number on him and our mobile suits."

"What if I told you that the explosion was an attempt for the pilot’s commander to kill him?" Neil asked.

"What!?" Allelujah exclaimed, “That pilot’s commander was trying to kill him?”

“Apparently.”

“That’s awful,” Allelujah muttered, “But if that explosion was supposed to kill that enemy pilot, why did he get off with lesser injuries than Setsuna.”

"I wouldn't be too sure of that" Neil said, "The pilot might have woken up, but he's still a long way from a full recovery."

"But your brother said…"

"Don't listen to what my brother says," Neil said, "He's always been known for stretching the truth. That pilot was in critical condition when he got here."

"But I heard he's doing much better now," Allelujah said.

"No…he's not," Neil said softly, "He's not on any cell regeneration treatments. The only thing he's on is a saline drip right now. His body is too weak for him to be put on an antibiotic at the moment and the chances of him developing an infection are high. He might have regained consciousness way earlier than expected but he's still in critical condition."

"Why do you seem so concerned over the pilot's condition?" Allelujah asked.

"Because the pilot is a dear friend, from a long time ago," Neil said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what's gonna happen now? I'll upload the next chapter in a few days. Let me know what you thought~!


	6. Coming Forward

"You know that pilot?" Allelujah asked, "How?"

"It doesn't matter how I know him," Neil said.

"I see," Allelujah said as the door opened and the blue haired girl walked in, "It's you."

"Oi, she does have a name," Neil said.

"I'm sorry Destiny," Allelujah said.

"Mister Haptism," Destiny said, "If you don't mind I would like to talk to Mister Dylandi.”

"It's alright," Allelujah responded, "I can leave if you want."

"I’m sorry," Destiny said, "I need to talk to him in private. We're probably going to go to the isolation ward again."

"Okay," Allelujah said as Neil and Destiny left the room, "Have fun."

When Neil and Destiny got back to the isolation ward, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Your relationship with Tieria," Destiny said, "I've never seen Tieria smile before or cry for that matter. And yet he did both while talking to you. What is Tieria to you?"

Neil sighed, "Tieria…is my little brother, so to speak," Neil explained, "The kid has no family, none of us do. So being the oldest, I took the role of the older brother."

"I see," Destiny said.

"Now I have a question for you," Neil said, "What is  _your_ relationship with Tieria?"

"I was his caretaker for the past four years," Destiny responded, "Ribbons wanted him under constant supervision during the past four years.  That and Ribbons wouldn’t trsut him on his own. Tieria would often cry your name in his sleep."

"Would he?" Neil asked.

"Yeah, almost every night."

Neil sighed as he walked up to Tieria's bed, "I can see why," Neil said, "Everyone thought that I had died. And Tieria…well the kid blamed himself for the blindness I have in my right eye and it wouldn’t have surprised me if he blamed himself for my “death” as well. Our Gundams had been disconnected from Veda in the middle of a battle. Lucky for us, Ms. Sumeragi had a backup operating system, however, Tieria's Gundam, the Virtue, didn't take to the system. He was trying to link with Veda and inadvertently blocked the system from installling." He paused, "He was going to get killed if I didn't do anything. And as his 'older brother,' I couldn't let that happen. So I took an attack that was meant for him."

Destiny sighed and looked over at Tieria, "That would explain a lot," She said, "That would explain why he was so protective of me. He probably saw me as his little sister the way you saw him as a younger brother."

Neil sighed and looked at the girl then to Tieria, "The two of you look a lot alike," He said, "And you tend to act a lot like the way he did as well.  You just don’t blow up over every little thing the way he did."

"We're both innovators if that's what you mean," Destiny said.

"No," Neil said, "It's more than that. It's hard to explain. But the way you care for him it's almost as if the two of you are biologically related."

"That's impossible," Destiny said, "We were created not born. Human DNA was used as the base of how we were created, but Tieria and I don't have the same base pattern."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Neil said, "The two of you are too much alike. I would look into that if I were you."

Destiny sighed, "How can I?" She asked, "I've been disconnected from Veda."

"Oh, I see," Neil said as he looked over at Tieria, "Hey kid, how are you feeling?"

Tieria sat up a bit, "Not bad," He said.

"I'm glad," Neil said, "I was worried when you got all upset like that. Are you in a better mood now?"

Tieria shrugged, "I guess," He muttered as he stared down at the floor, "Is Sumeragi around?"

"Yeah," Neil said, "Do you want me to get her?"

"Yes please," Tieria said.

"I'll be right back," Neil said as he walked off towards the little office that was attached to the isolation bay.

"Tieria," Destiny said, "I'm sorry if I upset you earlier. I really didn't mean it."

"It's fine," Tieria responded dryly, "I was going to find out what I did sooner or later."

"Are you sure?" Destiny asked.

"Yes."

"Something’s bothering you Tieria," Destiny said, "What is it?"

"Nothing," Tieria said bitterly.

Destiny sighed as Sumeragi entered the room with Linda, "Hello Ms. Sumeragi, Ms. Linda," Destiny said.

"Hello," Linda said, "Tieria, how are you feeling?"

"Better," Tieria responded, "Sumeragi, I want to speak with the others."

"Tieria…" Sumeragi said.

"Please," Tieria pleaded "The sooner I confront the rest of the crew the sooner I'll feel better about the entire situation I've gotten myself into."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "You're not strong enough yet. You're still too weak to be up and about."

"Please, I need to apologize for my actions."

Sumeragi looked at Linda, "What do you think?" She asked, "You're the one in charge of his care. I'm going to let you make the decision."

Linda sighed and looked at the monitor beside the bed, "I don't see why not, he seems strong enough," she said, "However I want him to return here when he's done, his stomach wound hasn't healed completely yet."

"Alright," Sumeragi sighed, "Do you think you'll need any help Tieria?"

"No," Tieria said as he slowly sat up fully. He wasn't met with any pain however, his stomach muscles were rather tight and weak, "I can manage."

"You're not going to be able to make it there on your own," Neil said as Tieria went to stand, "You haven't gotten out of bed in well over a week." He carefully helped Tieria stand while being cautious of his injury, "How are you holding up?"

"Alright," Tieria grimaced as he gritted his teeth. The healing laceration was beginning to throb again and he was feeling a bit lightheaded. He put his hand to his stomach and Neil took notice.

"Does it hurt?" He asked as he also noticed the slight look of pain on the boy's face.

"A little bit," Tieria lied. The wound was excruciatingly painful. It wasn't as bad as when they had removed the piece of shrapnel but it was still bad.

"Tieria maybe this isn't such a good idea," Sumeragi suggested, "You really look like you're in pain."

"I'll be alright," Tieria said through clenched teeth, "I need to do this."

"The crew members aren't going anywhere Tieria," Neil said, "You can wait a few more days."

"No," Tieria said, "I want to do this _now_."

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "I'll page the rest of the crew."

* * *

 

Feldt sat in her usual spot in the brigde. Based on the Double-0’s location Setsuna was bound to return at any minute and someone had to be there to open the hatch to the hangar.

" _I need all crew members to report to the isolation bay meeting room immediately,"_ Sumeragi's voice called over the announcement system just as a transmition line opened on her end,  _"I repeat I need all crew members to report to the isolation bay meeting room immediately."_

“Hurry up and open the hatch.” Setsuna’s voice called, “I think I know what that meeting is about.”

“Setsuna!” Feldt exclaimed as she quickly hit several buttons on the control panel in front of her, “But the debriefing…”

“It can wait,” Setsuna said as the hatch opened and his Gundam entered the hangar, “Close the hatch and meet me in the Isolation bay meeting room.”

“I’m closing the hatch and docking your Gundam now,” Feldt said as she watched Setsuna open the cockpit of his Gundam while it was still in motion, “Setsuna! Don’t do that!”

“Hurry up. The meeting is important.”

“O-okay.” She said as she finished docking Setsuna’s Gundam, _“What does he know that the rest of don’t?”_ She thought.

* * *

 

Tieria sat in the meeting room with his helmet on. He didn't want to reveal his identity until he was ready to do so. He was feeling nervous about coming face to face with his old comrades for some reason and it was making him feel rather nauseous.

The door opened and Allelujah, Mileina, Ian Vashti and a man how looked exactly like Neil walked in.

"What is this all about?" The man in green asked, "It had better be important."

"Shut up Lyle," Neil snapped.

Tieria clutched his stomach as tightly as he could without feeling any pain, “ _I feel sick…”_ He thought, _“Is this really such a good idea?”_

"Oi," The man called Lyle said, "We're here because of you right? Well take off your helmet so we can see your goddamn face."

Tieria sighed and reached for his helmet. He was shaking now, nearly uncontrollably.

"What the hell is taking you so long?" Lyle yelled, "Hurry it up!"

"Stop it Lockon," Allelujah said as he took notice to how bad the prisoner's hands were shaking, "He looks nervous."

"More like anxious to kill us," Lyle said.

"Shut the fuck up Lyle!" Neil said.

Allelujah sighed as he heard the helmet hit the table. He then looked up and gasped as he saw the face of the person sitting in front of him. There was no mistaking that vivid dark purple shoulder length hair or those narrow garnet eyes, "T-Tieria…?" He gasped, "You're…alive…?"

"Yes I am, Allelujah Haptism," Tieria responded.

"I'm so glad to see you," Allelujah said, "Where have you been all this time?"

"With the enemy," Tieria muttered softly bowing his head in shame.

"You're…a traitor…?" Allelujah gasped in shock. Tieria had been the most loyal to Celestial Being than the rest of them.  He would have never guessed that Tieria would be the one to defect.

"If he's traitor," Lyle said, "I say we kill him. If he betrayed us once, he'll probably do it again."

"No!" Tieria cried.

"No what?" Lyle asked.

"I…I was forced…" Tieria muttered, "I didn't want to…"

"Bullshit," Lyle spat, "They all say that. You're just like the rest of them. This bastard is the reason Setsuna got hurt!"

Allelujah looked at Tieria. He looked so much thinner and paler then he remembered him being. "Is it true, Tieria?" Allelujah asked not wanting to believe anything that Lyle said, "Are you really the one who caused that explosion? But I thought…it was your commander…”

Tieria sighed, "Yes I am," he said, "I hit the self-destruct mechanism on my mobile suit. I take full responsibility for the explosion."

"You bastard!" Lyle yelled as he pulled his gun and pointed it at Tieria as the boy's head dipped.

"No…" Allelujah gasped, "It's not true…it can't be true…"

"Oh but it is," Tieria said in a tone of voice that Allelujah had never heard before, "I was trying to kill him, but obviously, I failed."

"Tieria," Allelujah said, "What happened to you?"

"I realized how weak you humans are," Tieria said darkly.

"Tieria…" Destiny muttered. “ _What happened to him?”_ She thought. She then looked at his eyes and gasped, “ _Shit, Ribbons!”_

Allelujah pulled out a throwing knife out from the inside of his jacket, "I don't know what happen to you Tieria," He said, "But you've gone too far."

"I see we've both come to the consensus that this bastard needs to die," Lyle said.

"Allelujah, Lyle what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Sumeragi cried, "Stop this!"

"Let them kill me," Tieria said, "I don't mind. I deserve to be killed."

"Tieria what the fuck?" Neil asked as he stepped in front of Tieria.

"Stand aside you stupid human," Tieria said, "Otherwise you'll be killed as well."

Neil pulled his hand into a fist and punched Tieria in the face, "I don't know who the fuck you are but you had better leave Tieria alone!" He yelled.

"What are you talking about Neil Dylandi?" Tieria asked, not at all phased by the hard blow he had just taken to the face, "This is who I am."

“BULL-FUCKING-SHIT IT IS!” Neil swore.

"Bro," Lyle yelled, "Get out of the way so we can kill this guy!"

Then before Neil could do anything, Tieria shoved him to the ground and grabbed his gun, "Did I not tell you that you were going to be killed if you did not step aside?" Tieria said as he cocked the gun and pointed it at Neil.

"BRO!" Lyle yelled as he readied his gun and pointed it at Tieria.

Tieria gasped as he realized what he was about to do probably just before he was about to do it. He dropped the gun in shock and heard another gun cock. He turned and saw both Lyle and Allelujah each pointing a gun at him, "What have I been doing?" He murmured as he held his now aching head.

"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"NO! DON'T SHOOT!"

"SETSUNA!"

Then there was a gunshot and everything went silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, that's really not good now is it? Let me know what you though~!


	7. A Warm, Much Needed Welcome

Tieria's eyes widened in shock as Setsuna collapsed to the floor in front of him. "Setsuna!" Tieria cried as he knelt down ignoring the stabbing pains that shot through his stomach, "Setsuna!"

"It's been awhile," Setsuna said as he pulled himself off of the ground, "Tieria Erde."

"Setsuna…" Tieria muttered mustering up a smile despite the pain and anxiety that began to overwhelm him, "F…Seiei…"

"Tieria!" Setsuna called as Tieria fell forwards, "Tieria Erde!" Setsuna looked over at Lyle who had his gun drawn and Allelujah who was holding one of his throwing knives.

Allelujah looked mortified, "Tieria…I…I almost…" He muttered as he dropped the knife that was in his hand, "What…what was I thinking…?"

"What the fuck are you doing Setsuna!" Lyle yelled, his gun still smoking "I could have just killed you!"

"What the fuck do you think  _you're_ doing!" Setsuna yelled as he cradled Tieria's head and shoulders, "I don't care what you may think! Tieria Erde is our comrade! He's a Meister like the rest of us, regardless of what he's done in the past five years!"

"But Setsuna," Lyle argued, "You're being stupid! He attacked you!"

"I don't give a damn!" Setsuna snapped, "That was _not_ Tieria Erde who attacked me. Tieria Erde would _never_ do that!"

“Fine. Whatever.” Lyle said, “Apparently you know him better than all of us. But don’t come crying to me when he snaps and kills all of you.”

Neil sighed, walked up to his brother and punched him in the face so hard he fell to the ground. "I am fucking fed up with your attitude right now!" He yelled as he pulled Lyle to his feet by the collar of his uniform and slammed him against the wall, "Get the fuck out of here! I don't want to see your face right now!" He released his brother then watched as Lyle walked towards the door, "Oh before you go, give me your gun," Lyle turned and threw his gun on the table, "You'll get it back when you prove that you can fucking behave yourself." Lyle walked from the room and Neil sighed, "I don't know what to do with him."

“Setsuna when did you get back?” Sumeragi asked.

“About two minutes ago,” Setsuna responded, “I’m glad I made it in time.”

“Wait,” Sumeragi said, “Did you know about Tieria?”

“I did,” Setsuna responded.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Tieria didn’t want me to.”

"I don’t mean to interrupt but," Allelujah said softly as he noticed a growing dark red stain on Tieria's shirt, "I think Tieria's stomach is bleeding."

"What!" Neil, Destiny, and Sumeragi exclaimed as Feldt cried on Sumeragi's shoulder.

Neil walked over to the boy, walked over to the unconscious boy and gently lifted Tieria's shirt. "Dammit!" He swore. Sure enough the wound on Tieria's stomach had indeed reopened a bit. He carefully picked Tieria up off the ground.

* * *

 

Linda was rather surprised when Neil walked in to the medical room carrying Tieria.

"Neil, what happened?" She asked.

"The kid pushed himself too hard and because of it, the wound reopened." Neil said as he set Tieria down on one of the beds, "I don' think it's bad but you never know."

Linda nodded and lifted Tieria's shirt, "You're right," She said, "But it's not that bad. I'm going to stitch it back up and then I'm going to have you bring him to his room."

"Neil how is he?" Sumeragi asked as she entered the room.

"He wound reopened a bit," Linda explained, "I just have to re-stitch it a bit then I'm going to have Neil bring him to his room. There's nothing more we can do for him here, all he needs now is time and rest to finish recovering."

Sumeragi sighed, "Why did I have to let him do that?" She asked, "He would be fine if I had refused!"

"You know how the kid is," Neil said, "If he wants to do something, he's going to do it, regardless. If you didn't consent he probably would have gone off without one of us helping him."

"I know," Sumeragi said, "I'm just worried about him."

"I'm worried about what my brother is going to do to him," Neil said, "It was Lyle who nearly shot him."

"If he does anything to Tieria, I will personally take him off the Cherudim and I'll have Destiny take over for him," Sumeragi said.

"Do it," Neil said, "I know I'm taking the leaf out of Tieria's book but I don't think my brother is fit to be a Gundam Meister."

"I never thought I hear that again," Sumeragi said, "But I'll keep him on the Cherudim for now. If there's a problem then I'll act as I see fit."

"I'm all set," Linda said as she finished securing a bandage around Tieria's stomach, "You can bring him to his room now. Just tell him to be careful when he wakes, I'm sure the new stitches will be a bit tender and sore."

Neil nodded lifted Tieria off of the bed and turned to leave the room. When he got to Tieria's room he sighed. He tried to avoid this room because he knew that there was a good chance that he would find Sumeragi crying on the bed again. But things were different now, Tieria was back with them.

"Ms. Sumeragi," He said softly in case Tieria was only asleep, "Will you pull the covers back please?"

"Sure," She said as she walked a head of Neil.

"Thanks," Neil said as he gently set Tieria down on the bed then pulled the covers over him.

"I have to get going," Sumeragi said, "I have to go give your brother a stern lecture about what he did today.  I also want to continue Destiny’s profientcy testing."

"Alright," Neil said, "I'll be here if you need me."

A few minutes after Sumeragi left Allelujah walked in, "Neil, how is he?" he asked.

"I think he's just asleep now," Neil said, "He just pushed himself too hard."

"Is it true?" Allelujah asked, "Was he really with the enemy?"

"Yeah," Neil said, "So was Destiny."

"I find that hard to believe," Allelujah said, "To think that Tieria would side with the A-Laws…what if…"

"Tieria wasn't with the A-Laws," Neil said, "He was with a smaller group of people who were affiliated with the A-Laws but not necessarily a part of them. He was held there and forced to fight against his will."

"That's awful," Allelujah said, "I can relate to what he went through, I guess. I was held in a high security prison for four years I know how it feels."

"It was worse with Tieria."

Neil and Allelujah turned to the door and saw Setsuna standing there, "Setsuna, what do you mean?" Allelujah asked.

"Tieria was captured by a man named Ribbons Alamark," Setsuna said, "He was locked in a closet when he wasn't being forced to fight in a mobile suit that Ribbons could take control of if Tieria tried to refuse to fight. He was given food but was unable to eat because they constantly drugged him."

"Where did you hear this?" Neil asked, "Did Destiny tell you?"

"No," Setsuna responded, "Tieria told me."

"When?" Neil asked. The only time that Tieria and Setsuna had seen each other had been when they met in the meeting room and Tieria has lost consciousness before they could really have a chance to talk to each other.

"A while ago," Setsuna said, "I met him at Proud and we talked a bit until he was forced to fight by that bastard that took him."

* * *

 

" _Setsuna F. Seiei…"_   _Tieria Erde's voice came through the communications line, "Is that…you…?"_

" _Tieria Erde," He called, "Why…why are you in an enemy mobile suit?"_

" _I was captured right after Operation Fallen Angels by a man named Ribbons Alamark." Tieria said, "I don't know where I'm being held but Setsuna, I hate it there. I'm being held in a room no bigger than a storage closet. And… I think they drug me at night to keep me under their control. I just want to be back with Celestial Being or dead. Please Setsuna…shoot me down, kill me before he can…"_

" _Tieria what are you saying!" He yelled, "You're my comrade! I can't shoot you down! Sumeragi Li Noriega is waiting for you to return, it will kill her if I was to kill you."_

" _Setsuna…please…I would rather be killed by a comrade than…"_

_Then the line went quiet for a bit and before he could respond, Tieria started screaming in pain, "Tieria! Tieria Erde what's wrong! Tieria respond!"_

" _Get…outta here…Setsuna…" Tieria gasped, "I'm…going…to…kill…you…if you…don't…I…I can't…I…can't…I can't control…my body…anymore…Please…kill me."_

" _Tieria! TIERIA ERDE!"_

* * *

 

"Oi Setsuna!" Neil called, "Setsuna!"

Setsuna snapped back to focus, "Sorry." He said.

"You've known that Tieria was alive since that incident at Proud?" Neil asked, "Why didn't you tell any of us?"

"I couldn't tell you that Tieria tried to kill me," Setsuna said, "Or that he asked me to kill him."

"What?" Neil and Allelujah exclaimed.

"Tieria told me 'shoot me down, kill me before he can,'" Setsuna said, "How was I supposed to tell Sumeragi that I met Tieria on a battlefield but he asked me to kill him?"

Allelujah and Neil fell silent. Neither of them knew what to say to Setsuna they would have never expected Tieria to say anything along those lines.

"Tieria's really changed a lot hasn't he?" Allelujah said softly, finally breaking the thick silence in the room.

"You have no idea," Neil said, "I think it's safe to say that the Tieria we knew five years ago is gone. And it's both a good thing and a bad thing."

* * *

 

Several hours later Tieria started to come around to a light conversation amongst three people. He slowly opened his eyes and found Neil, Setsuna and Allelujah sitting near his bed. He went to sit up but gasped as a bolt of pain shot through his stomach.

"Tieria," Neil said as Tieria fell back against the pillows again clutching his stomach, "It might be a bit late to tell you but the wound on your stomach reopened and Linda had to re-stitch it so you might not to want to sit up for a while."

"Tieria," Allelujah said softly, "I'm…I…I want to apologize to you. I nearly attacked you earlier, I don't know what I was thinking. But those things you said really bothered me."

"It wasn't me," Tieria said softly while looking away from his comrades. He knew that what he was about to say was going to sound like an excuse but he had to tell them anyway, "Ribbons Alamark had taken full control of my body. I had no control over what I said or did."

"What?" Allelujah exclaimed, "How is that possible?"

"I'm not human," Tieria said softly, "I'm an innovator…I was created by Veda and that's how Ribbons took control of me. He reopened my link to Veda and controlled me that way…I can understand if you're angry with me…I heard what had been said."

Allelujah was in shock. He had always known that Tieria was different but he wasn't expecting what the purple haired boy had told him, "You were created by Veda?" he asked.

"Destiny knows more about it," Tieria said, "A lot of information was kept from me. You would have to ask her."

"But hey the important thing is that the four original Meisters are back together," Neil said trying to lighten the mood, "Against the odds."

Setsuna and Allelujah both smiled lightly and nodded. "That's right," Allelujah said, "It doesn't matter what we've been doing, where we've been or what happened during the past four years."

Tieria smiled a bit but he was starting to get tired.

"Hey kid I…erk…we forgot to say something to you," Neil said, "Welcome home Tieria."

Tieria sighed and smiled, "Thanks," He said, "It's good to be back…ugh…"

"What's wrong?" Setsuna asked, "Are you in pain?"

"No" Tieria said softly, "I'm just really tired for some reason."

"We'll let you sleep then," Neil said, "We can continue our chat later, when you're feeling better."

Tieria nodded then shut his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Allelujah sighed, "I feel bad for him," he said, "He was always so delicate, why did he have to be the worst off out of all of us for the past four years?"

Neil sighed, "Everything happens for a reason," he said, "I'm sure there was some reason why Tieria went through hell for four years. Even if that reason doesn't show itself for a while eventually we'll find out why Tieria went through what he went through."

Allelujah nodded then turned to leave the room, "Do you want me to bring you anything to eat?" he asked.

"Nah," Neil said, "I'm good."

"What about something for Tieria?" Allelujah asked.

"I think Tieria's on a special diet for now," Neil said, "Ms. Linda is in charge of his meals."

"Okay," Allelujah said as he walked from the room leaving only Setsuna and Neil.

"So you knew that he was alive," Neil said, "You were right in not telling Ms. Sumeragi about it him. She wouldn't have taken the news well. Now the question is will he be able to pilot again?"

"He will," Setsuna responded, "Tieria may be delicate, but he's not weak. He'll pilot again, he'll do everything in his power to make sure he can pilot again."

"I'll hold you to that Setsuna," Neil said as Sestuna sat on the floor against one of the walls, “You’re gonna stay in here too?”

“I want to talk to him when he wakes up.” Sestuna responded.

* * *

 

Tieria was surprised when both Neil and Setsuna were still in his room. “What are you two still doing in here?”

“Well I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Neil responded, “And I think Setsuna wanted to talk to you.”

“What did you want to talk about?” Tieria asked as he sat up as much as he could without pain.

"It's about what you asked me to do at Proud," Setsuna said, "Taking your life would not have been something I could have done. It's true that you were at the time an enemy and you were threatening to kill me but I knew that you would have never pulled the trigger to end my life. And we needed you to return here alive, we can't operate with only three Gundams."

"Setsuna…" Tieria muttered, "Thank you. I don't know what I was thinking when I asked you that."

"You were suffering Tieria," Neil interjected, "And you were desperate to have it end. Don't worry about it anymore, you're back with us and that's all that matters now."

Tieria nodded, "Thanks," He muttered.

"Are you alright?" Setsuna asked.

"Yeah," Tieria said, "I just have a lot on my mind.”

At that moment the door opened and Destiny walked in, “I’m sorry, am I interrupting anything?” she asked.

“Nope,” Neil answered, “We were just having a little chat.”

“Try not to worry about what happened earlier,” Setsuna said as he turned for the door, “Have a good night.”

“What have you been up to?” Neil said, “You kinda disappeared for a while.”

“Ms. Sumeragi wanted to test my proficiency in several different areas in case I’m needed,” Destiny responded, “They’re thinking of making me a secondary pilot for Tieria’s Gundam, just in case.  Well, as long as it’s okay with Tieria anyway.”

“It’s fine,” Tieria muttered as he tried to fight the fatigue he was feeling.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Neil asked.

“I’m starting to get really tired.” Tieria responded.

“You should get some sleep then,” Neil said, “You’re still recovering and need all the rest you can get.”

“Have they given you your own room yet, Destiny?” Tieria asked.

“Yeah,” the girl responded, “It’s right next door.”

“You two don’t have to stay.  I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Alright,” Destiny said softly, “Don’t be afraid to call me if you need anything during the night okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the four Meisters have finally been reunited. I have no answers for while Lyle is such an asshole, at least at the moment, I don't (I'll figure something out). Let me know what you thought~!


	8. Night Terror

_He woke up feeling rather strange. It was almost as if something was off but he couldn't quite place it. He sat up and found that his stomach wasn't sore at all, which he found to be odd because it had been acting up lately. But perhaps he was on the mend so he didn't think anything of it. He found that there was a message on his communicator._

" _Tieria when you wake, please come to the briefing room," the message read, "We have some issues to address."_

_The message was signed Sumeragi so Tieria figured that they were just going to discuss when he would get back to fighting or the ever annoying subject of how he was feeling. He quickly got dressed, failing to realize that the laceration on his stomach was absent as well as any scar that would have been left and despite losing quite a bit of weight, his old uniform still fit him perfectly._

_When he entered the briefing room he found the members of the crew and Destiny, however Neil was absent._

" _Where's Neil?" He asked automatically._

" _What are you talking about Tieria?" Sumeragi asked, "Neil Dylandi's been dead for nearly five years."_

" _What!" He exclaimed, "But…he was just here yesterday…he was here…talking to me…"_

" _It must have been a dream," Sumeragi said, "Neil's dead and has been dead for five years."_

" _That…that can't be true…" Tieria gasped, "Neil…can't be dead…"_

" _I wish I could tell you that Neil is still alive, but he's not," Sumeragi said, "Well, now that that's over we have an issue to address. The rest of the crew and I have come to the decision that you're no longer needed here."_

_Tieria's eyes widened as those words resonated in his head, causing him to feel almost faint, "What…!"_

" _Celestial Being no longer requires your services," Sumeragi said, "You are being let go."_

" _But…Why…?" Tieria asked in shock. He didn't want to believe any of what he was hearing, he just didn't and yet it was happening. He sighed and tried to muster up the strength to ask the words that had form at his lips but refused to come out, "Where am I to go?" he asked as tears obscured his vision. "There's no where for me to go…what are you going to do with me?"_

" _You're not going anywhere," Setsuna said as he drew his gun, "As you know, all of our secrets and our identities are under S-level confidentiality. We've come to the conclusion that we can't allow you to live knowing what you know."_

_Those words struck Tieria harder than any bullet could have. He was going to die at the hands of his comrades! He was now torn between grabbing his own gun and attempting to defend himself or making a run for it. But he knew the likelihood of him having a firearm in his possession was slim and knowing Sumeragi, the door was locked to prevent him from escaping. He went to reach for where his gun would be kept._

" _Don't you dare!" Setsuna yelled as he pulled the trigger._

_Tieria heard the shot then sank to his knees as the bullet penetrated his skin, his muscle then exited through the center of his back, shattering vertebrae and severing his spinal cord in the process. He knew that this kind of gunshot wound was fatal and that he would either suffocate on the blood that was surging to the back of his throat or bleed to death. But one thing was certain, he was dying and no amount of regenerative medicine would save him._

_Tears flooded his eyes as the rest of the crew stepped over him and the growing pool of blood that he was lying in. While Lasse, Feldt, Mileina and Ian left, Destiny, the Meisters and Sumeragi remained. “_ This can't be happening _,” he thought as his eye sight grew dim. There was nothing he could do. Despite being shot in the lower back, he was completely paralyzed, the only thing he could do now was lie there and wait for death to come._ “Why…would they do this…” _he thought as his lungs refused to take in anymore oxygen,_ “Setsuna…why…”

* * *

 

Tieria wasn't sure if it was the loud bang that was caused by a Haro out in the hall, the pain in his stomach or the sheer terror he felt from the nightmare he had experienced that had woken him. He was shaking uncontrollably, his breathing was heavy and he felt extremely sick. He went to sit up and he was met with an incredible pain in his stomach and as he fell back against his bed a deep red stain on his shirt caught his attention.

"Des…D-Destiny…" He gasped, "Destiny…!"

" _What's wrong, Tieria?"_ Destiny asked after about a minute or so.

"Destiny…I…I think I…was shot…" Tieria gasped. He couldn't breathe and he was panicking.

" _What!"_ Destiny cried,  _"Tieria, are you sure?"_

"Please…help me," Tieria gasped, "Neil…where's Neil…Destiny…please…"

" _Alright,"_ Destiny said,  _"Hold on Tieria, I'll be right there."_

Tieria sighed as he tried to calm himself down.

* * *

 

Neil was rather surprised when Destiny woke him.

"Des, what is it?" Neil asked as he replaced his eye patch.

"I don't know," Destiny said, "But Tieria called me in a panic a few minutes ago asking for you."

"Alright," Neil said as he sat up, "He probably had a nightmare again."

"That's what I was thinking," Destiny said, "But he called me saying that he had been shot."

"What!" Neil cried as he quickly got out of bed, "I swear, if it's my brother again I'll kill him!"

* * *

 

Tieria was relieved when Neil and Destiny walked into his room.

"Tieria, what's wrong?" Destiny asked as she walked up to the bed.

"Setsuna…shot me…" Tieria gasped.

"What!" Neil cried, "Setsuna shot you? Are you sure?"

"He shot me…in the stomach…" Tieria muttered.

Destiny and Neil looked at each other. They both knew that Tieria's mind was still on the nightmare because there was no gunshot wound or massive bleeding that would come with getting shot in the stomach, "Tieria…" Neil said, "There's no gunshot wound."

"How…is that…possible…?" Tieria asked, "I…was shot…"

Neil sighed as he carefully lifted Tieria's shirt, "No you weren't," he said, "You've ruptured a few of the stitches. Hold on, I'll go get Ms. Sumeragi and Ms. Vashti."

"NO!" Tieria cried, "Don't get Sumeragi…don't…please…She doesn't want me here, she's going to dismiss me..."

"Tieria…" Neil said as he placed his hand on Tieria's forehead only to pull it away almost immediately, "Destiny, he's burning up."

"What?" She asked as she too placed her hand on Tieria's hot forehead, "Oh god…he is…Tieria, we don't have a choice but to get Ms. Sumeragi, you're very sick right now and she can help you. It was a dream okay? She's not going to dismiss you, she's already told me that she needs you to fight for her. Please Tieria, this is really serious."

"Are…you sure she's not going to dismiss me…?" Tieria asked.

"Positive," Destiny said, "Can we get Ms. Sumeragi now?"

Tieria nodded, "Destiny…I really…don't feel well…" He moaned.

"You have a very high fever right now," She said, "Try to relax a bit. Neil, will you go get Ms. Sumeragi?"

"Alright," Neil said as he left the room. He was hoping that Tieria's condition wasn't too bad. The boy was strong, but he could only take so much.

* * *

 

Sumeragi was rudely woken up when the lights in her room were turned on without warning.

"What's going on!" She yelled as she looked towards the door and saw Neil standing there, "Neil what are you doing? If you had a nightmare find someone else's bed to sleep in, I'm not your mother!"

"Oi," Neil said, "What was that all about? This is no time to be joking, we have an emergency on our hands!"

"What's wrong?" She asked as she sat up, "I didn't mean that, I had a dream where you wanted to sleep in my bed because you had a nightmare. What do you want?"

"Tieria had a nightmare," Neil said.

Sumeragi sighed, "That's not really an emergency Neil," She said, "Tieria suffers from nightmares all the time. Is he alright?"

"Not at all," Neil said, "He managed to pop at least two of the newer stitches…and he's burning up."

Sumeragi gasped. Her worst nightmare was coming true. She had been keeping her fingers crossed that something like this wasn't going to happen but it seemed as though it was. "How high is his fever?" She asked.

"I don't know," Neil said, "But it's up there."

"Shit," Sumeragi swore, "The last thing Tieria needs now is an infection."

"We may have caught it early," Neil said, "Because he wasn't feverish yesterday."

"Let's hope so," Sumeragi said, "I'll call Linda."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing screwed up nightmares is one of my specialties. In the original version this chapter was later in the story but I pushed it up so if there's any continuity issues let me know and I'll figure something out. Also Neil's nickname for Destiny, Des, is pronounced as it's spelled with an S sound at the end not a Z sound.


	9. Infectious Visions

Destiny sighed as she tried to calm Tieria down. She had never seen him this way before and she made a mental note to ask either Neil or Sumeragi if Tieria had some kind of panic disorder. "Tieria," She said softly as she ran her finger through his almost sweat soaked hair, "I need you to tell me what you were dreaming about."

"Setsuna shot me…" he muttered as he shook violently, "I was dying and everyone was watching as I died…Sumeragi dismissed me…and Neil was dead… and I wasn't allowed to live…knowing what I knew…"

"It's alright," Destiny said, "That's not going to happen. So just relax."

A few minutes later just as the violent tremors that Tieria had been experiencing had subsided, Sumeragi, Linda and Neil entered the room causing Tieria to once again start shaking uncontrollably.

Sumeragi walked up to the bed and placed her hand on Tieria's forehead. She sighed “ _This is bad_ ” She thought, "Linda give me the thermometer, his fever is bad." Sumeragi said.

"I was expecting that," Linda said as she inspected the wound, "It's not that bad. He'll be fine after a day or so on antibiotics. We caught it early. How high is his fever?"

"Thirty-nine point five," Sumeragi said.

Linda nodded, "That doesn't surprise me," She said, "Please don't worry too much. Tieria's fever is high however if it was serious it would be well above forty.  We should get him to the medical room.”

“Alright,” Sumeragi responded, “Neil can you get him please?”

Neil nodded and carefully lifted Tieria off the bed, “Sorry kid,” He said as Tieria whimpered in pain, “Just take it easy.”

* * *

 

 "Sumeragi…" Tieria whispered once Neil placed him on one of the beds in the medical room, "Are you…going…to dismiss me…?"

"Tieria," Sumeragi said as she placed an ice pack on the boy's forehead, "Why would I dismiss you? I need you to fight for me. Don't worry about that now, just rest, you'll feel better."

"You're not…going to…dismiss me…?" He asked.

"No Tieria," She said, "I promise. Now get some sleep." She sighed, "Linda, how does it look?"

"Not bad," Linda said as she dabbed a cream like substance on a gauze pad, "Like I said we caught it early, so it's still local. Tieria, I'm sorry but this might burn a bit." She then carefully pressed the pad to the boy's stomach.

Tieria gasped in pain. His stomach was already painful to begin with and the burning and pressure only made it unbearable. And if he had the energy to do so, he would have been screaming. He wanted it all to stop but he was still terrified to go back to sleep, he didn't want to see those images again.

"All set," Linda said as she bandaged the wound, "All I need to do now is set up the IV. This will be the easy part Tieria."

Linda was about to get the IV line in Tieria's arm when the boy pulled his arm away, causing the needle to cut his skin.

"Stop…"He gasped, "Don't…"

Sumeragi sighed. She had forgotten all about Tieria's fear of needles, "Tieria, Linda has to do this," She said softly, "If she doesn't, you'll get sicker. You need to let her do this. You're too sick for an oral antibiotic."

"No…" Tieria gasped.

"Neil," Sumeragi said. She hated making any of her crew members do anything that they didn't want to do however, sometimes it was necessary, "I need you to hold him down, just please don't hurt him."

Neil nodded and walked up to Tieria and grabbed the boy's arm, "I'm sorry Tieria," He said, "But the infection is going to kill you if we don't do this." He then restrained Tieria in a way so that he couldn't pull his arm away.

"Let me go…" Tieria gasped as he tried to struggle but was stopped by an extreme pain in his stomach, "Stop…please…Let me go…"

"No Tieria," Neil said, "You need this medicine."

* * *

 

Setsuna was rather confused when he walked out of the hanger. It was nearly three in the morning and all of the lights were on, so either something happened while he was working on his Gundam or someone forgot to turn off the lights.  He had a feeling it was the former because he could hear muffled voices coming from the medical room so he decided to investigate.

* * *

 

Linda and Neil were still having issues holding down the feverish and nearly hysterical Tieria down long enough to get the IV line into his arm when the door opened.

"Tieria," A voice called, "What's wrong?"

Tieria immediately stopped struggling. That voice struck fear in him, "No…" He gasped as the tremors returned and worsened ten-fold, "No…not you…please…no…don't kill me…"

"What?" Setsuna asked, "Tieria, why would I kill you?"

"Don't…kill me…" Tieria moaned, "I…won't tell…our secrets…please don't shoot me…"

Setsuna looked towards Destiny, "What's going on?" he asked. He had never seen Tieria like this and it worried him. 

"He had a nightmare where you shot and killed him," Destiny said softly so Tieria wouldn't hear, "He's not thinking very clearly. He developed an infection so he has a high fever."

"Setsuna," Neil called, "I need you to help me hold him down so we can get the IV line in his arm."

As Setsuna went over to go help Neil, Destiny continued to watch. And as she watched something happened and the scene changed. It was no longer Setsuna and Neil holding Tieria down, it was two faceless men in white lab coats. Linda wasn't the one working with the IV, it was a faceless dark-haired woman.

"Destiny," Sumeragi asked, "Is everything alright?"

Destiny knew that Sumeragi called her by her name however she could have sworn she heard the name Soleil. She was about to asked Sumeragi who Soleil was when the scene changed further. Tieria's gasps and weak please had been replaced by the piercing yet vaguely familiar screams of a young child.

She tried to shake the mental images her mind was conjuring up when one of the faceless men turned to face her.

" _Your bother is going to die Soleil."_

Then the scene she was witnessing went black as she lost consciousness.

* * *

 

Sumeragi was concerned about the Destiny. She had been acting strange since Setsuna had entered the room.

"Destiny," Sumeragi said, "Is everything alright?"

Sumeragi bit her lip when the girl didn't respond. “ _Please don't tell me that she's being controlled,”_ Sumeragi thought, “ _We don't need that right now…”_

"Sumeragi," Neil said as he turned around, "We got the IV in."

Then before Sumeragi could respond there was a dull thud from behind her.

"Destiny!" Neil called as he released Tieria and ran over to the collapsed girl, "Destiny, what's wrong?"

Tieria weakly looked over at the girl and instead of seeing the teenaged girl in Neil's arms, he saw a girl no older than thirteen in the arms of a faceless short-haired man. He shut his eyes quickly trying to shake the hallucination that was probably caused by the fever he was running however when he opened his eyes again the scene had not changed.

"Sol…Soleil…" He called out weakly. Soleil? Who was that? He had never uttered that name before in his life and yet he felt as though he had called that name countless times. "Soleil…!"

Neil looked over at Tieria, "Tieria," he asked, "Who's Soleil?"

"Where…where are you taking Soleil…?" Tieria asked, "Stop…"

"Tieria," Neil said, "This is Destiny, not Soleil."

"No, stop…" Tieria cried weakly, "Don't take my sister!"

Neil and Sumeragi looked at each other, "Tieria, what are you talking about?" Sumeragi asked.

Tieria never heard the question he heard something else.

" _Take her away. You're working him up too much."_

"No stop!" Tieria cried, "Don't take her away!"

"Neil," Sumeragi said softly, "Bring her to her room."

Neil nodded and Sumeragi walked up to the bed, "Calm down Tieria," She said. She knew that there was no point in trying to reason with Tieria at the moment, there was a good chance that he had no idea what he was talking about. "We're not going to take your sister away from you. We're just going to bring her to her room so she can get some rest. Is that alright?"

Tieria blinked and realized that Sumeragi was standing in front of him. "Sumeragi…?" He whispered, "When did…you get here?"

"I've been here the entire time," She said realizing that Tieria was once again attempting to think straight, "Tieria, who's Soleil?"

"Soleil?" Tieria whispered as he closed his eyes, "I don't know anyone by that name."

Sumeragi was about to protest but decided against it. With the condition that Tieria was in, he probably had no idea what he had been screaming about not even five minutes prior. "That's fine," Sumeragi said, "Linda is he all set?"

"Yes," Linda said, "Do you need me to check on Destiny?"

"You can if you want to," Sumeragi said as Neil reentered the room, "But I'm not sure that will be necessary."

Linda nodded, “Once he falls asleep activate the capsule,” she instructed, “I think it would be in his best intrest to use regeneration treatment to complete his recovery.  It should only take a little under twenty-four hours.”

"Setsuna," Sumeragi said, "You're free to go. Thank you for your help."

Setsuna nodded, "Keep me updated on his condition." He said.

"We will," Neil said, "Destiny will be fine. She's suffering from some kind of mental trauma. She just needs some rest."

"I wonder what happened to her," Sumeragi wondered aloud.

"I'm sure she'll tell us when she wakes up," Neil said as he turned to Tieria, "Tieria, go back to sleep, you'll feel better."

"I can't," Tieria whispered, "I'll have that dream again…"

Neil sighed, "I'll be back," he said as he left the room.

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't remember," Tieria said, "But…it frightened me…I don't want that to happen again."

"It's not going to happen again," Sumeragi said, "Tieria, you're not going to get better if you stay awake for the rest of the night. Please, get some sleep."

"Sumeragi," Tieria whispered as tears streamed down his face, "I don't want to."

Sumeragi sighed as Neil reentered the room, "Where did you go?" She asked.

"Just to get him something to drink," Neil said.

"But the-" Sumeragi didn't complete her sentence. Neil gave her the 'cut it out now' motion with his hand, "That's a good idea."

"Here Tieria," Neil said as he handed the small water bottle to the boy, "Try to drink it all."

Sumeragi looked at Neil and mouthed, "What did you put in the water?"

"A sleep aid," Neil mouthed back.

"Neil," Tieria muttered as she struggled to keep his eyes open, "Why…why can't I keep my…eyes…open…?"

"Because you're sick and your body is exhausted," Neil said, "Just close your eyes and don't worry about a thing."

Tieria nodded slightly and shut his eyes.

"Tieria…" Neil called after about three minutes, "I think it's safe to say he's not awake anymore. You can get to bed, I'll watch him for the rest of the night."

Sumeragi nodded, "Keep an eye on him for us," She said as she activated the medical capsule, "Good night Neil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read that abdominal wounds have a high risk of getting infected and well nineteen year old me liked to be a sadistic little writer (I originally wrote this when I was about 19). So, who is Soleil? (Soleil is pronounced "so-lay" it's French for sun). I also don't know why I headcanon that Tieria has a fear of needles but I do (it *might* be explained later in the fic)

**Author's Note:**

> So, what did you think? Destiny and Miracle are original characters. I have a good chunk of the story written at this point so until I run out of chapters I'll update this once a week or so.


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